Critics Continue to Call Out Connor Bedard's Lack of High-End Skill On the Ice
Connor Bedard has been facing much criticism in his sophomore season as the Blackhawks struggle to improve in the standings.
The Chicago Blackhawks were the worst team in the league two years ago, which resulted in them winning the draft lottery and selecting Connor Bedard 1st overall.
It was a huge boon for the team that needed it, but unfortunately they have not been able to take advantage of their good fortune yet.
Last season, the team improved just one spot, moving from 32nd in the standings to 31st.
Currently, the team remains in 31st place and seems destined to finish in that position once again.
This is despite the best efforts of Connor Bedard, who has 16 goals and 49 points in 55 games this season.
The offense is one thing, but Bedard has continued to face criticism for his lack of 200-foot game and defensive awareness.
This is what former NHLer Paul Bissonnette had to say about him earlier this year.
Bissonnette is far from the only one to take notice of the flaws in Bedard's game.
Fellow former NHL and Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier called out the Blackhawks for giving Bedard too much ice time when he doesn't deserve it.
Meanwhile, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson is not ignorant of his center's flaws.
In fact, he has scrutinized Bedard for one specific area of the game that he continues to struggle with.
With all of that being said, one player does not make a team and it is certainly true that the team around Bedard simply isn't very good.
Hopefully that will change in the coming years as the team's top prospects graduate to join Bedard and take over the NHL.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Tom Wilson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Alexander Ovechkin | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Brendan Gallagher | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Pierre-Luc Dubois | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Victor Hedman | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack McBain | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Strome | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Guentzel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Carcone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Christian Dvorak | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zemgus Girgensons | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Paul | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brayden Point | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cam Atkinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John Carlson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Desimone | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 56 | 39 | 14 | 3 | 81 | |
Capitals | 55 | 36 | 11 | 8 | 80 | |
Oilers | 55 | 34 | 17 | 4 | 72 | |
Stars | 55 | 35 | 18 | 2 | 72 | |
Golden Knights | 56 | 33 | 17 | 6 | 72 | |
Panthers | 57 | 34 | 20 | 3 | 71 | |
Hurricanes | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Wild | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Maple Leafs | 55 | 33 | 20 | 2 | 68 | |
Avalanche | 57 | 33 | 22 | 2 | 68 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||