Connor Bedard is a hockey genius -- here's why

Elite Prospects lead scout David St-Louis goes in-depth in this breakdown of 2023 NHL Draft super prospect Connor Bedard's game and what makes him a hockey genius.

[RIPJimmyAX]

He's the smartest player I've seen in years, when a player is constantly in open ice seemingly without moving quickly is a sure sign he's 10 moves ahead of everyone. Very Gretzky esq. Then he's got that Lazer of a shot on top of it all

[stevenosherow]

Great breakdown. Looking forward to more of your in depth videos. Michkov would be a cool video

[half-wallhockey]

Awesome. The change of direction both with his body and his shot, along with how he directs play with his head movement or lack of, makes it extremely difficult to know where he's going with the puck. I like this video because yes Bedard has excellent hands, passing skills and one of the deadliest shots in a prospect in awhile, but how he uses them is even more impressive. He knows his shot is a threat, so he uses that threat to force defenders to get out of passing lanes to block him, and he slips a pass through the open ice. He knows that his handling skills can force defenders back and create space, even if he himself isn't going to get around them. His threatening attack style is amazing to watch because of his fearlessness to attack defenders, forcing them to make a move, and then capitalizing on that threat.

[KertoBrand]

Man this is INCREDIBLE WORK. PLEASE DO MORE! 🙏🏿

[jonpomerance-trifts]

Great analysis, great editing. Thanks. Ill be back.

[rocknroll]

You can see current NHL players not make good decisions. Connor is definitely a good decision maker with high skill.

[evannovitzke]

He’s great at not forcing plays and finding openings in the movement on the ice using his hands, skating, vision, and iq.

I interpret hockey iq as your ability to read and react to the next play.

[gund]

This is just an AWESOME breakdown for people like me who don't really know hockey very well. I'm a football (American) guy, so I know the ins and outs of formations and personnel sub packages and so forth. So I'm capable of picking up subtleties in sports. I just don't know what I'm supposed to be looking for in hockey. This gives clear, concise examples and explanations to help me figure it out. Well done.

[mhibbing]

It's a great time to be a Blackhawk's fan! 😎

[bassfischer]

Wonderful insights and analysis, thank you!

[AlbertLivingstone]

Great video.

Will you guys ever talk more about goalies? They are intriguing. How do you project goalies? It's an important question, because hitting the jackpot on a goalie can really change a franchise.

[trevorcastino]

Unreal as always, learned a ton from this one.

It’s a tough question, but is there a way for an average processor like myself to develop game sense like this? Can’t be easy.

[briancampbell]

great analysis, best i've seen on Bedard thus far.

[CashMacGregor]

i'm an older guy and when i saw bedard play, right away he reminded me of dale hawerchuk who potted over 1400 points in less than 1200 games.

[collynbertin]

Great analysis on Bedard my dude, another good question and maybe you could keep tabs and answer it next year, is how adaptive Bedard will be after his first season?

Some of these plays he makes won't be available at the nhl level, reaction time and physical presence is alot higher in the nhl. There are alot of nhl defenseman that will either close the body and level him or just separate him from the puck.

A pretty neat thing with McDavid was I don't think he changed his playstyle much, he recognized nobody has his speed and defenders will need to react to it, bit he was always doing that in ohl too. Does Bedard have the same top end speed as McDavid or does he just have good Edgework?

[kranman]

Bedard is generational, no doubt. I do think it will take him a year or two to adjust to the NHL though. Whatever team drafts him must be patient. He will flash in his rookie year but the numbers may not be there until he’s able to adjust his IQ to a bigger, faster, smarter league

[bijanravanbakhsh]

your next hawks captain - connor bedard.

[TheGiftRF]

Seems like he has all the skill in the world, he can be elite if the work ethic can continue

[StephenHughes]

Would love to see a Nate Danielson breakdown if possible

[aaronloewen]

the interesting thing about the play at 3:45 is that Bedard gives absolutely zero tell on what he's going to do. completely neutral stance, not loading up a shot or a pass. impossible for the goalie to read what he's going to do