Should you Wait to Buy a Connor Bedard Jersey?

Alot of pressure on Fanatics.

2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft - Round One
2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft - Round One | Bruce Bennett/GettyImages

Even before that fateful day on May 8th, there were fans out there across NHL arenas in Blackhawks #98 Bedard jerseys. Bold, risky, and ultimately vindicated in their projection of what would happen,. When the jerseys (home red) officially went on sale about .0001 seconds after GM Kyle Davidson said his name there was a herd of credit card transactions world wide to get their hands on the #98 red jersey. However, should you wait if you were still debating the purchase?

Here are some things to consider:

1. This will be the last season that Adidas makes the jerseys for the league. After the season, Fanatics will have control of fabrication and distribution for fans and players alike. To some (ok, many) this sounds both risky and scary. Risky in the fact that this will be a major task for a company that hasn't had such a big responsibility before (although they have helped Nike with the MLB on field jerseys). Scary, because like many companies there have been complaints of quality with their products.

2. Why not wait until Connor Bedard has truly earned your hard earned dollar? While expectations are through the roof at present, he still has yet to produce a single point in the league or lead Chicago to the playoffs afterall. While not "fun", it would be prudent to wait at least a season (and perhaps a "C" patch at that point) to make sure "he is what we thought he was" (In full Dennis Green intensity).

3. Lastly, and this one is more for me, I believe that Chicago and the league will be promoting Connor Bedard throughout his career. One such way, is to highlight his play with special events (all-star, winter classic, stadium series jerseys) as well as possible new 3rd alternate jerseys. The black jerseys in particular from the late 90s to 2007 I would love to see come back. The 2016 / 2019 stadium series and winter classic jerseys were also unique and memorable. I, like many reading this, have my fair share of the red / white options and thusly would like to have an option that stands out from the rest.

So while many reading this likely already own their #98 Connor Bedard Blackhawks jersey, it may not be a bad option to wait just a little longer.

Andrew Shaw
2016 Coors Light Stadium Series - Chicago Blackhawks v Minnesota Wild | Hannah Foslien/GettyImages

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