Chicago Blackhawks 18-year-old phenom Connor Bedard may have already claimed the NHL’s Calder Trophy Award as the league’s top rookie with weeks remaining in the NHL regular season. The Hawks have 14 games remaining, and this season, to say the least, has been grim. They once again find themselves contending for the first overall pick in this year’s 2024 NHL Entry Draft. However, Hawks fans have had the treat of watching rookie phenom Connor Bedard most of the season minus the time he missed with a broken jaw. Bedard was always the favourite to win the Calder trophy. But with his performance since his return from injury, he may as well have already won the trophy.
In his 15 games since returning from a broken jaw that he suffered on January 5th against the New Jersey Devils, Bedard has had 19 points and five multi-point games. Bedard’s 0.98 points per game rate is the highest for a rookie since the 2020-21 season when Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov boasted a 0.93 points per game rate. Bedard has returned with a vengeance. He has securely planted his name back at the top of the 2023-2024 Calder trophy race.
The Other Names in the Race
From the outset of the 2023-24 season, the Calder trophy race has been Connor Bedard’s to lose. Still, he had some competition early in the year with the likes of Minnesota Wild players Brock Faber and Marco Rossi and New Jersey’s Luke Hughes. All three players have put up very respectable numbers this season, but have stood nowhere close to Bedard’s 53 points in 54 games. All three players are directly behind Bedard in the rookie point race sitting at 38 pts, 35 pts and 33 pts respectively. Even though the Wild and Devils are both competing for playoff spots which could help to benefit the resumes of the other candidates, Connor Bedard’s stats simply can’t be ignored when considering his Calder trophy chances.
Other Deciding Factors
When it comes time to vote for a Calder trophy winner at the end of the season, another factor that will come into play. This factor is that Bedard is doing all this while being the youngest player in the NHL. Rossi, Faber, and Hughes are all 20 or older, while Bedard is turning 19 in July. Seeing as Bedard has put up 11 multi-point performances this season, considering his status as a teenager is even more impressive. There is no doubt that Bedard has also had some help from the Blackhawks recent offensive success. The team looks to be finally finding some semblance of consistency for the first time all season.
Dominant Performances Leading to Connor Bedard’s Calder Trophy Push
While on the topic of multi-point performances, Bedard tied a record. The record was for most points in a game by an 18-year-old. On Tuesday night in Chicago’s 7-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks he tallied five points. While Anaheim is one of the worst even strength defensive teams in the NHL, Bedard’s goal and four assists are still impressive. The game before on Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes, Bedard scored twice and recorded an assist in a win. It’s games like those that will be looked at when the voting for the Calder trophy takes place. In fact, Bedard has had three multi-point games in his past five games.
The final factor influencing the Connor Bedard Calder trophy case would have to be the team around him. It’s no secret that the Chicago Blackhawks are a bottom-three team in the league in terms of talent. Guys like Jason Dickinson and Philipp Kurashev are having career years. On the other side of the ledger, guys like Lukas Reichel and Taylor Raddysh have failed to launch this season. “Failing to launch” could probably be said about the entire team if I’m being honest.
The fact that Connor Bedard is producing at the rate he is impressive. He has been playing with a group of either young players still trying to find their way, placeholders for the future prospects, and aging veterans. Therefore, what he has accomplished is truly remarkable. It shows just how much he has managed to do during a very hectic rookie year.
Main photo: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
