When looking at a generational talent and a sniper, there is only one player in recent years Connor Bedard can be compared to, and that's Auston Matthews.
When looking at a generational talent and a sniper, there is only one player in recent years Connor Bedard can be compared to, and that's Auston Matthews.
Connor Bedard was the rookie sensation in the NHL this season after being drafted first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2023.
There was similar hype surrounding another talented sniper eight years ago when Auston Matthews broke into the league and also lit it up.
Bedard and Matthews are similar in that they both have incredible releases on their shots. Matthews has proven without he can score, reaching 69 goals this season and leading the league for the third time in eight years. Bedard already has one of the most lethal, sneaky shots in the league, but still has some catching up to do.
Matthews was 19 years old during his rookie season with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016-17 and had some talented players surrounding him including James van Riemsdyk, Nazem Kadri, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Tyler Bozak. That Toronto team made the playoffs and all five of these players recorded at least 55 points to help Matthews, the leading scorer on the Maple Leafs that season.
Bedard had only one teammate record over 37 points, and that was Philipp Kurashev (with 54), partly because he was glued to Bedard's side at 5-on-5 and the power play all season. While there is the obvious difference in supporting cast for Bedard and Matthews in their rookie years, let's dive deeper than that.
We'll start with the basic stats comparing the rookie seasons of Bedard and Matthews.
Bedard in 2023-24
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Matthews in 2016-17
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Both rookie seasons are very impressive, but the difference in 14 games played blurs things a bit. At his point production pace, Bedard would have finished with 73 had he not missed 14 contests with a broken jaw. It would be easier to see per game stats, rate metrics, and individual numbers, per Natural Stattrick and Hockey Reference.
Matthews won the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year in 2016-17 and Bedard is the favorite to take home that same trophy for the 2023-24 season.
Bedard in 2022-23
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Matthews in 2016-17
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There is a fair bit to unpack here from the per game, rate metrics, and individual numbers. Matthews has the advantage in goals because he registered more shots and was better at finishing. This is due to the areas where he got chances from; his individual scoring chances for and high danger chances for were much higher than Bedard's this season.
Remember, the bull-like Matthews is 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds. Bedard is 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds.
A much better team around Matthews definitely helped with better team production offensively and more opportunities to score from higher chance areas. With 72% of the scoring chances and 49% of the high danger chances as Matthews got in his rookie season, Bedard did well offensively while shooting fewer times per game and finishing with a shooting percentage over 10. That will have to go up if he is to rival Matthews as top goal scorer.
This season, when the puck wasn't going in the net at a rate Bedard would have liked, he was still able to consistently create offense by assisting on goals, sometimes with very slick passing. He did this better than Matthews in his rookie season, also leading to more points-per-game.
Individually, both Bedard and Matthews were very impressive in their rookie seasons and might have similar paths throughout their career. The shots they have are so different from any other player, with Bedard's being deceptive for goalies. Each had different first-year experiences which differentiated their numbers quite a bit, but both were also the MVP of their team as teenagers.
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