The next Connor: why Bedard could be as good as McDavid

If what we know about the 10,000-hour rule is true — that it takes literally years of intensive practice to achieve the mastery of a complex skill — then maybe Connor Bedard does have a chance at becoming the next Connor McDavid.

After all, it’s not just their names that they have in common.

As early as the age of 10, McDavid has been practising with skills coach Joe Quinn, whose reactive-countering training technique is used by some of the best players in the NHL. Bedard started when he was just eight, giving him two more years — and hundreds, if not thousands — more hours of practice than McDavid.

“He’s one of the longest-serving superstars that we’ve had, no question,” said Nick Quinn, who runs Power Edge Pro with his father.

The Quinns still have video of an eight-year-old Bedard on the ice with a 16-year-old McDavid, both of them whizzing around an obstacle course that tests your ability to stickhandle and skate in tight spaces without losing speed. Even then, Bedard stood out. Not only because the North Vancouver native was so much smaller than McDavid and everyone else, as well as the only player wearing a full cage. But also because he was so good at what is basically a high-speed juggling act that has at times humbled the likes of John Tavares, Taylor Hall and Jack Hughes.

“I don’t say it lightly, because we’ve had so many top players come through the program, but he is the closest I’ve seen to Connor McDavid — both from a skill perspective and also his mental state. It’s all business and it’s all hockey all the time,” said Quinn. “I’ve seen him attack the puck circuits like it was the last time he was ever going to skate. So when I see him do the stuff that he does in a game and make it look so easy, I’m thinking to myself of course it’s easy for him.

“The way he works and practises is on another level. It’s crazy to watch.”

All eyes will obviously be on Bedard when Canada attempts to defend its title at the world junior hockey championship in Halifax and Moncton. By now, he’s used to the attention. A year ago, before the tournament was postponed because of a COVID outbreak, Bedard broke Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals by a 16-year-old. Eight months later, he had another four goals and eight points in seven games to help Canada win gold.

Though this is technically Bedard’s third tournament, the 17-year-old will once again be one of the youngest players in what is still an under-20 event. Not that should change expectations in an highly anticipated draft year that Arizona, Anaheim and several other teams have been patiently waiting — and tanking — for.

“We’ve been watching him since the U18s three years ago,” said Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong. “It’s still not certain what player he is, but I think everyone is excited by what they see.”

Bedard was granted exceptional status to play in the WHL as a 15-year-old. But the pandemic limited him to just 15 games with the Regina Pats in 2020-21. Still, he scored 12 goals and 28 points, then followed it up with 51 goals and 100 points in 69 games last season. Prior to these world juniors, he had scored a league-leading 27 goals and 64 points in 28 games — a 2.3 point per game average that is the best in the WHL.

“He’s a special talent. There’s no question about it,” said Pats head coach John Paddock. “They got it right when he was granted exceptional status, because he’s exceptional.”

Paddock doesn’t use that word lightly. Over his career, he’s coached many exceptional players, including Teemu Selanne when he was just a Winnipeg Jets rookie and Jason Spezza and Claude Giroux when both were making their jump from the minors into the NHL.

According to Paddock, Bedard is every bit as special.

“I pinch myself at times to be able to coach and be involved with a player that a lot of people say is generational. That’s not my word, but he’s lived up to the spotlight basically all the time,” said Paddock. “We’re not a star team. There’s some times where we’re desperate to win a game, he’s played 26 or 27 minutes. I’m not thrilled with having him play that much. But he’d be the best player on whatever team he were playing on. His accomplishments are ridiculous.”

What we’re seeing is the next level of skill. Bedard doesn’t skate as fast as McDavid. But like McDavid, he is able to stickhandle through traffic without slowing down. That not only makes him nearly impossible to defend, but also allows him the time and space to create TikTok-worthy clips, which usually involves him deking or shooting the puck from between his legs.

“I think the next generation and the young guys coming up are just so talented,” said McDavid. “You look at Bedard, he’s so skilled and can make plays at high speed and do whatever he wants on the ice. It’s impressive to see.”

If it were just the skating and puck-handling skills that he had, Bedard would still be a top prospect. But it’s his knack for finding the back of the net that has taken him to another level. He’s a shoot-first centre, one whose deceptively quick and heavy release has scouts saying that Bedard could be a threat to Auston Matthews for future goal-scoring titles.

“He’s the most recent prospect who can challenge at that level,” said NHL Central Scouting’s Dan Marr of the 5-foot-10, 185-pounder. “Connor is a scorer. He can bury it. And he’s motivated to do that. If he’s got a chance to score, chances are he’s going to finish it. Size has no impact on his game. He’s got tree trunk legs and Wendel Clark-like forearms.”

Talk to a number of scouts and you’ll get a number of different NHL comparisons.

Some say he skates and stick-handles like Patrick Kane. Others see Nathan MacKinnon or Nikita Kucherov or Kirill Kaprizov. One scout said Bedard’s shot — and the shooter’s mentality — reminds him Alex Ovechkin. Another said he’s got Sidney Crosby’s posterior and low centre of gravity when protecting the puck.

“I’ve heard it all,” said Quinn. “For me, he shoots the puck better than 95% of NHLers and he hasn’t even been drafted yet.”

“His overall skill, his vision, everything you need is right there,” said Mark Seidel of North American Central Scouting. “The way he shoots the puck, how he can score from a distance, and his ability to create — you’re looking at another guy like McDavid or Matthews or Ovechkin. Whatever coach gets him at the age of 18 is going to set the power play up around him, just like Ovechkin had it. We’ll see if he ends up changing the game the way the other kids have. But it’s possible.”

Already, it seems he’s doing just that.

When Power Edge Pro created 15 years ago, Crosby was the league’s best player and its highest scorer. So Joe Quinn designed his circuits around the way that Crosby attacked the zone and how he spun off checks when evading opposing defenders.

“The drills were called things like ‘Crosby on the Fly’ or ‘Crosby Down Low,’ ” said Nick Quinn. “You’d have the spread eagles and leading with your feet first and all that kind of stuff.”

That was the circuit McDavid trained on. Before it got too easy for him. So Joe Quinn then designed a circuit that would not only test McDavid’s unreal skating ability, but would also take elements from the inventive ways in how he attacked an obstacle. They started calling it ‘McDavid on the Fly’ and ‘McDavid Down Low.’

And then came Bedard, and what is now known as the ‘Bedard Crossover.’

“We constantly have to design harder circuits and harder drills just for him,” said Quinn. “If most players come up and tap it through to the secondary action, then Connor is going to come up and crossover, tap it through the first stick, add another stick that he has to tap it through. We have to take it to another level.

“He doesn’t need as much time and space as everybody else. There’s a lot of elite players who find the open holes in the ice, but they need to find the time and space to get off a shot. With Bedard, he’s such an elite multi-tasker that his ability to do everything at top speed and create deception is something that most players can’t do.

“Now, We’ve got kids in the system who look more like Bedard than McDavid. That’s the ultimate epitome that the program works.”

Originally published — https://torontosun.com/sports/traikos-why-connor-bedard-has-a-chance-at-becoming-the-next-connor-mcdavid