Chi prospects with Bedard

[bnet]

So, not happy in real life that Bedard went to Chi, I have to say though it potentially does wonders for my fantasy team. I have Reichel and Nazar, Nazar is likely 2 years or so away, Reichel looks ready for a permanent spot in that lineup.

What should/could I expect from those 2 going forward with the chance to play with Bedard? I was a little on the fence with Reichel as he has played enough games in my league to take a keeper slot (albeit at reduced salary as a rookie), Nazar is a free carry.

[senryu]

It's hard to say with particularity what it will be. But it seems pretty reasonable to conclude that Bedard will lift all boats. Anyone on his line or on Chicago's PP1 benefits. Given Chicago's lack of everything, they'll probably let Bedard run at center, I'd guess. But if they start him out with an established center, look to see which wing he plays. Reichel is a LW. You wouldn't want Bedard to get used to playing LW if you're a Reichel owner, for example.

[Invictus]

Chicago has an established c̶e̶n̶t̶e̶r̶ ... anything?

[PoolPartyPuljeejarvi]

Its hard to tell right now but agree with the rising Bedard tide comment. If nazar switches to wing or plays behind him with less coverage and then gets some pp time its probably not going to hurt. I've even heard the fantasy writers podcast guys saying Bedard actually plays wing periodically as well so its tough to say at this point. I feel like nazars safe to add either way tbh.

My guy sais the guy whose gonna gain the most is reichel. Hes a character guy- they're high on him- and hea the type of player (good but not great on his own) who could benefit a ton from a Bedard add.

And of course Korchinski just beaten a must own in dynasties...

[Axeman33]

I think people need to restrain their expectations on Bedard for a season or two. He's a 17 (soon to be 18) year old kid who's "maybe" 5'10" (thats probably being generous) and about to play against men who are looking to put this kid in his place. He's a "good" but not great skater when it comes to speed. He's got little to nothing to play with right now, and yes guys like Reichel and Nazar are both good prospects but I dont see them putting Bedard out there with other kids to start.

Chicago was the worst case scenario for Bedard early in his career. He's going to get tons of playing time in key situations because they have no one else to do it with any capability. He's going to learn the pro game on the job and we all know that is not an easy thing to do. The players he will face will be bigger, stronger, smarter than he's ever faced before. The coaches are smarter to his style and will focus on that.

I do think that from the top 5 picks this draft, he;s probably the only one who stay past 9 games but if I was in a one year league, Bedard would not be high on my draft card in Chicago.

So asking about the kids around him, I am not expecting much from them for a few years either because like Bedard, they have little around them to support their development. I'd hold them in keepers and be patient, but I am not expecting much for a few years.

[Bubba55]

I think people need to restrain their expectations on Bedard for a season or two. He's a 17 (soon to be 18) year old kid who's "maybe" 5'10" (thats probably being generous) and about to play against men who are looking to put this kid in his place. He's a "good" but not great skater when it comes to speed. He's got little to nothing to play with right now, and yes guys like Reichel and Nazar are both good prospects but I dont see them putting Bedard out there with other kids to start.

Chicago was the worst case scenario for Bedard early in his career. He's going to get tons of playing time in key situations because they have no one else to do it with any capability. He's going to learn the pro game on the job and we all know that is not an easy thing to do. The players he will face will be bigger, stronger, smarter than he's ever faced before. The coaches are smarter to his style and will focus on that.

I do think that from the top 5 picks this draft, he;s probably the only one who stay past 9 games but if I was in a one year league, Bedard would not be high on my draft card in Chicago.

So asking about the kids around him, I am not expecting much from them for a few years either because like Bedard, they have little around them to support their development. I'd hold them in keepers and be patient, but I am not expecting much for a few years.

I think this is sage advice.

[PoolPartyPuljeejarvi]

I think people need to restrain their expectations on Bedard for a season or two. He's a 17 (soon to be 18) year old kid who's "maybe" 5'10" (thats probably being generous) and about to play against men who are looking to put this kid in his place. He's a "good" but not great skater when it comes to speed. He's got little to nothing to play with right now, and yes guys like Reichel and Nazar are both good prospects but I dont see them putting Bedard out there with other kids to start.

Chicago was the worst case scenario for Bedard early in his career. He's going to get tons of playing time in key situations because they have no one else to do it with any capability. He's going to learn the pro game on the job and we all know that is not an easy thing to do. The players he will face will be bigger, stronger, smarter than he's ever faced before. The coaches are smarter to his style and will focus on that.

I do think that from the top 5 picks this draft, he;s probably the only one who stay past 9 games but if I was in a one year league, Bedard would not be high on my draft card in Chicago.

So asking about the kids around him, I am not expecting much from them for a few years either because like Bedard, they have little around them to support their development. I'd hold them in keepers and be patient, but I am not expecting much for a few years.

Yea thats well said- these days getting to even 60 or 70 in your first few seasons is difficult for anyone and getting there is not the same as elevating your whole team or line... yet! Hes going to be a gamechanger but I wouldn't count on that right out if the gate...

[Bubba55]

One thing I will add is something Pengwin7 brought up in a Bedard related thread:

"Despite Chicago being insanely talent-bare right now, we all know they are a cap-spending team and will eventually surround Bedard with a massive amount of talent. In 3 years, Bedard will be scoring 100+ points and Chicago will be stocked and a playoff team. It'll happen quick.

I think there is perhaps some truth in this. Chicago will have at least 15 Mil in cap space going into the summer and I think the shopping list could well include NHL forwards who are already well established but still young enough to be productive beyond 3 years and will be able to contribute enough whereby, and more importantly, the world is not expecting an 18 year old to carry an NHL franchise on his shoulders in his rookie season. Maybe something to think about. I think Reichel will benefit from this as well. Nazar, well he's a few years away IMO. We'll see what the Blackhawks do over the summer but again, I think providing Bedard with some support is a distinct possibility.

[senryu]

I think people need to restrain their expectations on Bedard for a season or two. He's a 17 (soon to be 18) year old kid who's "maybe" 5'10" (thats probably being generous) and about to play against men who are looking to put this kid in his place. He's a "good" but not great skater when it comes to speed. He's got little to nothing to play with right now, and yes guys like Reichel and Nazar are both good prospects but I dont see them putting Bedard out there with other kids to start.

Chicago was the worst case scenario for Bedard early in his career. He's going to get tons of playing time in key situations because they have no one else to do it with any capability. He's going to learn the pro game on the job and we all know that is not an easy thing to do. The players he will face will be bigger, stronger, smarter than he's ever faced before. The coaches are smarter to his style and will focus on that.

I do think that from the top 5 picks this draft, he;s probably the only one who stay past 9 games but if I was in a one year league, Bedard would not be high on my draft card in Chicago.

So asking about the kids around him, I am not expecting much from them for a few years either because like Bedard, they have little around them to support their development. I'd hold them in keepers and be patient, but I am not expecting much for a few years.

This is exactly right and suggests that the best time to trade for Bedard, if that's your goal, is next spring after Bedard puts up a 68 point season this coming year and a sharply negative plus/minus. Today people are thinking about 100 point seasons in a few years. But if Bedard has a not-mega-awesome first season, then he'll be more attainable. Not cheap, but probably more so than right now. This is especially true if Chicago runs him out as a center. 5'10" center learning how to defend in the NHL in his first year? Unless Chicago is ok with him doing zero defensive work, some part of his offensive game is going to be negatively impacted by the work he'll need to do on the defensive side. Chicago might want to find an older, defensively capable center to play with him next year and let Bedard acclimate on the wing. But who knows.

[Belexus75]

I think people need to restrain their expectations on Bedard for a season or two. He's a 17 (soon to be 18) year old kid who's "maybe" 5'10" (thats probably being generous) and about to play against men who are looking to put this kid in his place. He's a "good" but not great skater when it comes to speed. He's got little to nothing to play with right now, and yes guys like Reichel and Nazar are both good prospects but I dont see them putting Bedard out there with other kids to start.

Chicago was the worst case scenario for Bedard early in his career. He's going to get tons of playing time in key situations because they have no one else to do it with any capability. He's going to learn the pro game on the job and we all know that is not an easy thing to do. The players he will face will be bigger, stronger, smarter than he's ever faced before. The coaches are smarter to his style and will focus on that.

I do think that from the top 5 picks this draft, he;s probably the only one who stay past 9 games but if I was in a one year league, Bedard would not be high on my draft card in Chicago.

So asking about the kids around him, I am not expecting much from them for a few years either because like Bedard, they have little around them to support their development. I'd hold them in keepers and be patient, but I am not expecting much for a few years.

lol ...yeah i get the hype a bit but this is nuts....i can see him being very similar to Jack Hughes both in development curve and production....many fantasy teams will fall flat on their head trying to land him...

[audiopile]

How long did it take Clayton Keller to become fantasy relevant and carry a line? Same deal here imo. I know Im not answering the OP's question, but I think its a fair comparable, and looking at Keller's impact, well there was really none, for about 5 years. He did nothing to elevate Schmaltz or Domi, or D-step.

Chi is in the same place that Ari was back then, and I see a similar path for them going forward, except for the fanbase part.

[berni67]

How long did it take Clayton Keller to become fantasy relevant and carry a line? Same deal here imo. I know Im not answering the OP's question, but I think its a fair comparable, and looking at Keller's impact, well there was really none, for about 5 years. He did nothing to elevate Schmaltz or Domi, or D-step.

Chi is in the same place that Ari was back then, and I see a similar path for them going forward, except for the fanbase part.

Bedard will be better than Keller…Will it take less season to bring Hawks in playoff, maybe.

[senryu]

lol ...yeah i get the hype a bit but this is nuts....i can see him being very similar to Jack Hughes both in development curve and production....many fantasy teams will fall flat on their head trying to land him...

I agree with this. Among all comparables, Hughes seems like the closest comparable given the team roster information at hand and the presumption that they let Bedard play center all year. Except Bedard's goal scoring ability is clearly ahead of Hughes' at the same point but Bedard's skating is not nearly as good as Hughes' was. I worry about the last part because bigger, quicker d-men will probably want to say hello to the golden boy in an unpleasant manner and Bedard might not be able to get out of problem areas.

[deantime419]

Wouldn't be surprised if Nazar/Reichel's value goes back down after some older players brought in are the first benefactors from Bedard and these 2 (especially Nazar) are more so the "2nd wave."

[Belexus75]

Wouldn't be surprised if Nazar/Reichel's value goes back down after some older players brought in are the first benefactors from Bedard and these 2 (especially Nazar) are more so the "2nd wave."

Nazar's value will only go up assuming Bedard produces as most expected him to (i dont) which is at least PPG in first season. Reichel will already by in NHL and most likely on Bedard wing and Nazar will be seen as next one up since he is to spend another season in college. And if he produces at high level in college value will go up even more...

Personally i dont expect Bedard to paly between 2 old guys..maybe physical vet plus scoring guy like Reichel on other side.