NHL: Boston Bruins at Chicago Blackhawks - Source: Imagn — Elliotte Friedman makes his feelings known about Connor Bedard's slump in form (Image Credit: Imagn)

"Hearing a lot of people really doubting him": Elliotte Friedman makes his feelings known about Connor Bedard's slump in form

Modified Dec 06, 2024 14:45 GMT

Connor Bedard is not having the second season he or the Chicago Blackhawks envisioned. Many players experience a sophomore slump, but it was thought that Bedard, hailed as a generational player, might be able to avoid that. So far, he hasn't.

Hockey insider Elliotte Friedman believes the criticism is unfair and that it doesn't make a lot of sense. On the 32 Thoughts podcast on Thursday, he said (4:30-6:20):

"Look, I think a lot of the criticism of Conor Bedard is over the top. All of a sudden, I'm hearing a lot of people really doubting him. Like some of this is Kyle, I really think is recency bias. In the sense that, you know, in a great rookie season last year, he won the Rookie of the Year. Everybody expects improvement."

The NHL analyst said Bedard had a good year last year and wants to get better, but things have overall stagnated in Chicago. Friedman doesn't think the lack of team success and the lack of talent around Bedard can be attributed to the player, especially one who's 19 and in his second season.

Connor Bedard reacts to Team Canada 4 Nations Face-Off snub

Connor Bedard has struggled this year to the point that he was not named a player on Team Canada's 4 Nations Face-Off for February. He could still play in the Olympics for Canada, but he won't represent the nation in February.

Connor Bedard has slumped to begin 2024 (Imagn)

Despite the snub, the player isn't taking any offense. In fact, he's assigning the blame directly to himself. Via Athlon Sports, he said Thursday:

“I don’t know, I mean, you kind of sleep in the bed you make. I obviously haven’t been too happy with the start of the year, but for me, it’ll be a good time--you can use that for a little motivation. Just keep working hard and trying to get better, and that’s what I’m going to do, for sure.”

Bedard has scored just five goals in 26 games for the last-place Blackhawks, a distinct drop-off from last year's production in his brilliant rookie season in the NHL.