Connor Bedard jumped into the NHL at 18 years old and lived up to the hype of the first overall pick. He led a very weak Chicago Blackhawks team, putting up big numbers and controlling the game from his team's viewpoint. The rookie sensation had a lot of firsts in his first season in the NHL. In fact, he did a lot more than that. Bedard scored 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games while playing top line minutes. This meant he matched up against the best opposing players and lines every night and still broke through with his first taste of professional hockey. After a summer of training, a year of development, and a much better team around him, Bedard is set to his career highs in a number of areas as well as reach five career milestones that most young players take much longer to hit. Having missed 14 games with a broken jaw, Bedard didn't get to play a full season his first year. Regardless, he wasn't going to play 100 games as the season is only 82 games long. He needs just 32 games to reach the century mark in his career. Bedard is durable outside of the freak accident that was his jaw injury, so that amount of games should be no problem to hit in the first half of the season for the young star. Connor Bedard discusses adjusting to the routine and work environment in the NHL. He likes it and just wants to play hockey. Consistency was a big part of Bedard's game all season long. His longest scoring drought was three games, which happened once. Besides that, he didn't go without recording a point in back-to-back games only four other times. His 61 points in 68 games came with linemates like Nick Foligno, Ryan Donato, and Jason Dickinson at times. None of them are well known for their scoring prowess and shouldn't be playing on the top line. Bedard and the Blackhawks had unfortunate luck when Taylor Hall got injured after 10 games and missed the remaining 72. The rookie did have Philipp Kurashev, even though last season was a breakout and much of the success can be credited to playing beside Bedard. Having said that, he is going to reach 50 goals and 100 points this season. The expectations are higher after the team got a lot better and Bedard should have as well. He needs 28 goals and 39 points to reach those career marks. The points should be seamless, but with a full season and better players to pass the puck to him, Bedard should surpass 30 goals in 2024-25. The Blackhawks scored the least amount of goals in the league last season and the team was 28th on the power play. Those numbers are going to rise. Bedard still managed 21 points on the power play, so with a full season and a better top unit, 29 power-play points to reach 50 for his career is well within reach, but will come in the latter half of the season. The fifth milestone that Bedard can reach in his second season is 100 hits. For a smaller player that is also the star of the team, he played a physical game. This is a good sign that he's not afraid to get his hands dirty when the speed of the game and physicality picks up in the playoffs. He had 54 hits in 68 games, so it's not hard to imagine he can get another 46 in what everyone hopes is a full season. With how good Bedard is, and only getting better, he's going to be reaching milestones in his career very quickly. RECENT BLACKHAWKS NEWS Colton Dach Uses Past Experiences With Brother Kirby Dach As Inspiration To Make NHL [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news/colton-dach-uses-past-experiences-with-brother-kirby-dach-as-inspiration-to-make-nhl] Frank Nazar Has Looked ‘Really Good’ Through Rookie Camp [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news/frank-nazar-has-looked-really-good-through-rookie-camp] Connor Bedard Praises Caleb Williams And Bears [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news/connor-bedard-praises-caleb-williams-and-bears] Blackhawks' Prospect Drew Commesso Learned From Bruins' Swayman All Summer [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/players/blackhawks-prospect-drew-commesso-learned-from-bruins-swayman-all-summer]
