It’s not often you see generational talents face off, but hockey fans will be spoiled on Dec. 12 when the Edmonton Oilers and 2015 No. 1 overall pick Connor McDavid take on 2023 No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard and his Chicago Blackhawks at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alta.
In sports, we hear the phrase “The Next One” ascribed to plenty of hotshot prospects; those who were so dominant at the junior level, that there’s no way they won’t end up in the pantheon of the greatest ever. More often they not, they fall short of “G.O.A.T. status,” and we wait for the next prospect to salivate over at the World Junior Championship, or the annual NHL Entry Draft.
But it’s been well established that McDavid, only 26 years old but already a three-time Hart Trophy winner, five-time Art Ross Trophy winner, a four-time Ted Lindsay Award winner and the most recent Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner, has lived up to all of the hype and then some.
As for Bedard, he’s only 27 games (as of Dec. 11) into his NHL career, but so far, he too will live up to the hype. Let’s take a look at these two “Next Ones” and what to expect heading into the first matchup between the two.
Battle of No. 1 Overall Picks
There are plenty of expectations on first-overall picks, and rightfully so: the team that is lucky enough to earn the first selection in each year’s draft gets to choose from a talent pool of hundreds of the best 18-year-olds around the world. At the very least, an NHL franchise is expecting a No. 1 pick to be a future first-line forward or top-pair defenseman, someone who can carry them through the tough times and be a star on a team whose goal is a Stanley Cup championship.
It’s every 10 years or so that you come across someone who is so, so, so damn good, who dominates the junior game and demands everyone watch them, who you don’t just see make the jump to the pros, but kick down the door and take over the NHL.
There’s no doubt that was McDavid, who in three seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters, scored 97 goals and 188 assists for 285 points, capped off with a 2014-15 campaign, his draft year, that saw him score 44 goals and 76 assists for 120 points, including a jaw-dropping 48-point post-season run.
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Taken first overall by the Oilers in that summer’s draft, there was little doubt that McDavid would make his presence felt. I reached out to THW’s talented team of Oilers writers to see what they remembered about his rookie season in 2015-16.
“It took McDavid a few games into his rookie season to get settled,” said Sean Panganiban. “But he broke out of his shell in his fifth game with a three-point night in the Battle of Alberta. If it wasn’t due to injury, he would’ve won the Calder Trophy.”
My colleague is right: in only 45 games, McDavid scored 16 goals and 32 assists for 48 points, which on an Oilers team that had Taylor Hall, Leon Draisaitl, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins play full or near-full seasons, still put him third in team scoring.
Bedard produced those same expectations with the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats, scoring 134 goals and 137 assists for 271 points in three seasons of junior hockey, including 71 goals and 72 assists for 143 points in 57 games during the 2022-23 season.
Now a professional, Bedard carries those same expectations with the Blackhawks, only the 18-year-old doesn’t have the same level of supporting talent, with Nick Foligno being his most experienced teammate, and his most talented teammate being Hall, who only played 10 games with the club before requiring season-ending surgery.
As of Dec. 12, Bedard’s linemates are Anthony Beauvillier, whose career highs in scoring were 18 goals and 21 assists for 39 points with the New York Islanders in 2019-20, and Philipp Kurashev, a 2018 fourth-round pick who scored nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points last season. Not exactly the 1927 New York Yankees and Murderer’s Row.
Regardless of who Blackhawks’ head coach Luke Richardson puts with the young phenom, he’ll find a way to score. Through his first 27 games, Bedard has 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points, leading the team in all categories, and has handled the responsibilities of being a first-line center in the NHL with care, battling against opposing teams’ best defensive matchups and being more than capable his own end, making smart plays and rarely losing his man in the defensive zone.
Injuries stopped McDavid from winning the Calder Trophy in his rookie season, and all signs point to Bedard walking away with it come June. But there’s no argument that both these No. 1 overall picks came into the greatest league in the world with no fear, guns blazing.
Players Like Bedard, McDavid Are Why We Watch
It’s nearly impossible to quantify how hard it is to make it to the NHL. Only the best teenagers play on the “AAA” or rep teams, and from that group, maybe two or three from a team end up playing in developmental leagues like the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) or the United States Hockey League (USHL).
Each year, a little over 200 of the best 18-year-old junior hockey players are selected in the NHL Entry Draft. From that group, maybe only a few dozen have careers that are longer than a cup of coffee. To break it down further, only a handful or so from each draft year are good enough to be an All-Star or to be relied on for big minutes on a playoff contender.
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The reason I’m telling you this is to illustrate how good the players in the NHL are, how much talent and hard work is required of them to even get a sniff of the pros, and how much better the likes of McDavid and Bedard are.
They see the game like how you and I would if we watched from the catwalk above the rink. There are around 700 players in the league at any given moment, and only a handful see it like these two, like they’re in outer space, watching the world look slow, while the other 700ish players are blazing in cars, trying to navigate through bumper-to-bumper traffic.
They are students of the game in all but diploma, cap and gown, watching other games from around the league when they’re not playing, looking for something they can add to their skill set. Rink rats who wouldn’t want to be anywhere else on the planet.
They have the burden of being ridiculously talented while also being meticulous in their attention to detail, wanting to better themselves and grow as players. Never satisfied, always wanting more. It’s what separates the very good from the great, and the great from the greatest.
When the Blackhawks and Oilers meet up in Edmonton on Dec. 12 and Bedard and McDavid face off against one another on the opening puck drop, don’t expect either one of these superstars to be overwhelmed by the moment.
That will be our job as fans.
