Stu Cowan: Right here's why consultants think about Connor Bedard a generational expertise

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When Connor Bedard was 5 years outdated and taking part in for the Vancouver Vipers, the gamers have been requested what quantity they wished to put on.

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He selected No. 98.

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“When Connor requested for 98, our supervisor requested him, ‘Who’s 98?’” Jon Calvano, who was teaching Bedard on the time, recalled final yr in an interview with Rob Vanstone of the Regina Chief-Publish. “He mentioned, ‘I’m 98.’

“We type of checked out him like, ‘You’re 5 and that’s your response?’ ” Calvano added. “It was fairly neat to listen to a 5-year-old say, ‘That’s my quantity.’ No one actually mentioned something. Then he simply performed.”

Within the 12 years since then, Bedard has made No. 98 his personal — the best way Wayne Gretzky did with No. 99, Mario Lemieux with No. 66 and Sidney Crosby with No. 87.

At this yr’s NHL Draft — slated for June 28-29 in Nashville — Bedard might be No. 1. Monday evening’s NHL Draft Lottery (8 p.m., SN, TVA Sports activities) will decide which group will get the No. 1 total decide and can have the ability to add No. 98 to their lineup.

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Bedard, who gained’t flip 18 till July 17, posted 71-72-143 totals in 57 regular-season video games this season with the Regina Pats and added 10-10-20 totals in seven WHL playoff video games. At this yr’s world junior championship, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound centre had 9-14-23 totals in seven video games whereas serving to Canada win the gold medal.

It’s not shocking that Bedard is taken into account to be a generational participant.

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“It’s a praise to listen to individuals converse of him as a generational participant, however with all his sense of humility he wouldn’t view himself with that type of label, though he’d most likely be happy with individuals labeling him in that respect,” Don Meehan, the founder and president of Newport Sports activities Administration, mentioned in a cellphone interview final week. “However he has a fantastic sense of humility that he wouldn’t assume in these phrases to start with. However I do say to you that many individuals have indicated that he has the potential of being a generational participant given what he’s achieved thus far.”

Meehan has been a participant agent since 1980 and Newport Sports activities Administration is representing Bedard. Greg Landry, a participant agent for Newport, remembers first listening to about Bedard after the 2015 Brick Match in Edmonton when he was named MVP after posting 8-1-9 totals in six video games with the B.C. Junior Canucks shortly earlier than his tenth birthday.

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“I’m from North Vancouver initially, the place Connor’s from, and my household nonetheless lives there,” Landry mentioned. “That was actually when his identify, at the least for me, was already considered type of the subsequent one by way of being an elite prospect.”

When the Canadiens’ Cole Caufield took half within the Brick Match in 2011 as a 10-year-old, he had 9-9-18 totals in six video games with the Chicago Jr. Blackhawks. However as Meehan identified, not each participant who shines at that age turns into an NHL star.

“There are various gamers who are inclined to peter out past the Brick Match and by no means get any higher,” Meehan mentioned. “I believe the wonderful factor about Connor is that he’s continued to get higher at each degree that he’s performed at.”

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Bedard turned the primary participant in WHL historical past granted “distinctive standing” to affix the league as a 15-year-old and he had 12-16-28 totals in 15 video games in his first season with the Pats. As a 16-year-old, Bedard had 51-49-100 totals in 62 video games.

Whereas Bedard is thought for having an elite-level shot, Meehan mentioned it’s his imaginative and prescient and hockey sense that actually units him aside, alongside together with his dedication to the sport. Meehan added that Bedard has nice management qualities — he was captain of the Pats — and was introduced up the appropriate method by his dad and mom with sturdy values.

“He needs to study as a lot as he can,” Meehan mentioned. “He needs to be nearly as good as he presumably will be and there’s no scarcity of an incentive for extra info or a greater alternative to be higher and he’s very industrious in that respect. It’s uncommon that you simply see anyone that’s completely consumed by these talents or a need to be nearly as good as he presumably will be. He’s achieved issues at each degree that no person else has achieved thus far, which is actually outstanding.”

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Landry says Bedard has every little thing NHL groups search for in a participant.

“Everybody talks concerning the shot he has and compares it to the most effective shooters on the earth,” the participant agent mentioned. “However for me, watching him as I’ve over time, he’s received unimaginable hockey sense. He has the shot and the onerous work and willpower away from the rink that folks don’t see and it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen doing this job. He’s relentless in his pursuit of being nearly as good as he will be and he’s so aggressive to be the most effective. He’s the total package deal of what you search for in a prospect and in a participant.”

That’s why No. 98 is a generational expertise.

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