Connor Bedard matches another Chicago Blackhawks teenage feat with latest goal

With all the criticism surrounding Connor Bedard's second season in the NHL, people sometimes forget he is still a teenager.

Most 19-year-olds are cramming for a college exam. Even teenage hockey athletes are gearing up for the NCAA Tournament or the playoffs in the juniors.

Bedard is being asked to be the face of an original-six franchise. He has handled it rather well.

He is not the first teenage player the Hawks have asked to be a superstar at 18.

That would be Eddie Olczyk back in 1984 and he was doing it in his hometown. However, he was not the No. 1 overall pick like Bedard.

Otherwise, both were drafted in the top five by the Hawks and both debuted in the NHL at 18.

Bedard joined one of Chicago's favorite sons as the only teenage players the Hawks have had to score 20 goals in consecutive seasons with an amazing goal against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Eddie O was drafted No. 3 overall in the 1984 draft. He scored 49 goals in his first two seasons with the Hawks. However, he had a much better supporting cast around him with Hawks legends like Steve Larmer and Denis Savard on the team.

Bedard is being asked to do a lot by himself as there is not a whole lot of talent around him. Also, Bedard had the generational talent tag applied to him so only having 42 career goals at this point in his career seems like a disappointment to some.

He did have some regression to start the season, but that went away when Luke Richardson was fired as head coach. Bedard's production from his rookie year is down based on him being two goals behind his 2023-24 output and a few assists as well.

The reason you would consider his second season a bit of a slump is he put up 22 goals and 39 assists last season in 68 games because he missed a chunk of the season with a broken jaw.

However, he and Philipp Kurashev had great chemistry last season. This year Kurashev fell off and there has been no one consistently capable of skating on the top line to help Bedard out.

Frank Nazar has shown some promise lately, but then interim head coach Anders Sorensen shuffles things up where it is hard to keep consistency going.

Bedard is showing he is not regressing in his second season. He is also showing he is still capable of climbing up the NHL stardom rankings. He just needs more help to get there.