Connor Bedard is set to get a lot better in 2024-25 after he got a good taste of the NHL as an 18-year-old rookie and performed very well.
The Chicago Blackhawks were not good and there wasn’t a lot of talent around him to help the young superstar talent dominate at the level he is going to start to reach in his sophomore season.
With an incredible shot, Bedard already displayed his goal-scoring ability by scoring 22 goals in 68 games to go along with 61 points. He was on pace for well over 70 points if he hadn’t gotten injured and missed 14 games in the middle of the season.
As we inch closer to the start of next season and all signs point to Bedard improving by a fair bit, the NHL has projected the over/under for his points at 85.
Bedard knows he is going to get hit and he isn’t the biggest player, but he can take a check. His broken jaw was a freak injury and the rookie didn’t miss another game during the season other than from that injury. He is durable and assuming he doesn’t miss a game in 2024-25, improving upon his 26-goal, 73-point pace isn’t too much to ask.
Not only will a player of Bedard’s caliber inevitably getting better from year to year be expected, the team looks a lot better than it did in 2023-24, not only on forward, but defense as well.
Bedard had hardly any help last season on his line or from many of the other players on the team. Philipp Kurashev was glued to Bedard’s wing in a breakout season, but Taylor Hall was injured and there just weren’t any other point producers on the roster. New faces who will not only help out at 5-on-5, but the power-play and by keeping the puck out of the Blackhawks’ own end so much include Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, Ilya Mikheyev, T.J. Brodie, and Alec Martinez. Along with these players, Hall is back and healthy.
With so many better options, if one or two go down to injury, Bedard still has linemates and a filled out and formidable power play unlike last season. 30 goals isn’t a stretch for Bedard and with better players around him, his assists should go up from 38 as well. I think Bedard turns into a point-per-game player in his second season in the NHL on a much improved team and tops 85 points. All signs point up for him and the Blackhawks.