Top Insider Elliotte Friedman calls out the 'over the top' criticism for Connor Bedard
Connor Bedard hasn't had the best season we've ever seen, but the criticism is a little overblown, with top Insider Elliotte Friedman agreeing to that statement.
Last season, arguably the biggest story in the NHL was the arrival of rookie Connor Bedard, who lived up to the hype with a fantastic season, taking home the Calder Trophy in a seemingly one-horse race.
With a season under his belt, many expected the 19-year-old to improve immensely this season, but thus far the production hasn't quite been there, with many calling out the talented young center, especially after he was snubbed from Team Canada's Four Nations roster.
One person that doesn't agree with this criticism is Elliotte Friedman, who made it clear on the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast that he thinks the criticism is over the top.
"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."
While it's understandable that fans and hockey analysts would like to see improvements from year to year, Bedard has the extra pressure of already being the face of a franchise, while having very little young talent around him.
In 25 games this season, Bedard has tallied just 5 goals and 19 points, but with all of the attention on him, it's hard for him to post the numbers we expected from the rising young star.
Given the extraordinary talent and work ethic, there's little doubt that Bedard is going to make himself into a star in the NHL, but given the 'what have you done for me lately?' nature of sports, it's easy to see why he gets criticized.
| POLL | ||
Is Connor Bedard still the best player in the NHL under 21-years of age? | ||
| Yes | 46 | 42.2 % |
| No | 63 | 57.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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