Connon Bedard feasted as a junior player in all situations. You don’t produce the way he did without creating in a multitude of ways.
But when you zero in on what Bedard did on the power play in the WHL, that’s something special on its own. No one in the WHL had as many power-play points as Bedard did last season. He had 16 goals and 29 assists. He basically roamed wherever he wanted with the puck on the power play and picked the best scoring options for himself or a teammate.
When Bedard arrived in the NHL, some things worked and others didn’t. As time passed and he began figuring out the NHL, he improved in a lot of those areas. But the one area in which it seemed his game wasn’t close to being what it could be was on the power play.
Bedard created somewhat on the power play for others. Through his first 48 NHL games, he had nine power-play assists, including eight primary ones, but just two power-play goals. It wasn’t only a lack of scoring, but often a lack of shooting. There were 14 games in which he didn’t even attempt a power-play shot. There were 10 more in which he had just one.
And then, over the last three games, Bedard was a different player on the power play. He was shooting the puck more. He was taking the puck to more dangerous areas.
Against the Arizona Coyotes on the power play on Tuesday, he had four shot attempts, including one on goal, and four recorded scoring chances that included a high-danger chance, according to Natural Stat Trick. As of then, four individual power-play scoring chances were the second most he had tallied in his NHL career.
On Saturday against the Washington Capitals, Bedard was even more aggressive on the power play. He attempted 10 shots, putting three on net, and had four scoring chances.
Finally, on the power play on Sunday, he had four more attempts, including three on goal, and went for three scoring chances and three high-danger chances. He also scored.
On the power play in those three games, he had 18 shot attempts, seven shots on goal, 11 scoring chances and four high-danger chances. He also had one goal and two assists. To compare, in his first 48 games, he had two goals, 10 assists, 73 shot attempts, 33 shots on goal, 41 scoring chances and six high-danger chances.
So, what changed? Bedard played more like he did in the WHL. He got the puck and made plays.
All Three Zones publisher Corey Sznajder tracked the Chicago Blackhawks’ game against the Capitals on Saturday and saw Bedard being more aggressive than usual on the power play. Sznajder’s tracking data had Bedard for five shots and four scoring chances, with only one coming off a setup from a teammate.
“He tried to make a few things happen on his own instead of waiting for a one-timer like earlier in the season,” Sznajder said. “I noticed he tried to dangle around the high PKers more in Washington.”
Here’s one sequence on the power play from the Capitals game:
And here’s another:
Bedard seemed more locked in on the power play on Sunday. On this play in the first period, he took the puck off the boards and went straight to the net. As noted earlier, he didn’t have many high-danger chances before the last three games.
The Coyotes had hold on his play to stop him from scoring, but it’s another example of him being aggressive and getting closer to the net.
That penalty led to a five-on-three power play, and Bedard capitalized on that. He got the puck in the right circle, maneuvered his way to the middle of the ice and scored in the slot.
Connor Bedard scores his second of the game and 19th of the season pic.twitter.com/ZMJHTfJqbV
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) March 10, 2024
“Yeah, that was really nice and I’ve seen him do that on that side of the ice,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said of the goal. “I think I know five-on-three, but even five-on-four I’ve seen him do that a couple times, where it gets stale on the one-timer side and he’ll roll around with Seth (Jones) and come around to his forehand side. He has an ability to push it and shoot it or pull it and shoot it. So it kind of freezes defenders and they’re kind of more of a screen on the goalie than anything. So he’s good at that and he finds those little cracks.
“Last game, I mentioned he had a one-timer that was blocked, but doing that every once in a while is going to throw a wrench into people that are defending that and it makes them have to honor that and it freezes them. He’s very slick and slinky and moves by them and can find those cracks for the shot if he doesn’t take the one-timer. He’s got the ability to control the downswing and push the puck either way and shoot it, and that throws the goalie off because the goalie has to move again as well.”
And when Bedard is that dangerous on the power play, opponents start overplaying him and opening up other opportunities. Bedard makes this next play look so easy. The key is Seth Jones recognizes Bedard wants to come over the top. Jones moves out of the way, Bedard skates underneath him and, all of a sudden, sees the ice from a different perspective. He’s also pulling the Coyotes’ defense apart and creates a cross-ice seam to Tyler Johnson in the lower left circle.
This is the type of stuff Bedard was doing on the power play in junior. He skated around with the puck until he set himself or a teammate up for a quality chance. pic.twitter.com/icnnvjgCub
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) March 10, 2024
To dig even further into Bedard’s recent play, data scientist Meghan Chayka examined Bedard’s recent numbers from Stathletes’ tracking information.
“He is certainly shooting the puck more recently (12.0 shots per game in last three games vs. 4.1 shots per game in previous six games), but it is also more of the quick-release shots: He has seven one-timer attempts in his last three games compared to only five in his previous six contests,” Chayka wrote in an email. “This has allowed more of his shot attempts to come without traffic in front of the net. … He has set his season high in shot attempts in each of the past two games (13 on Saturday vs. Capitals & 17 on Sunday vs. Coyotes).
“Bedard has also spent more time with the puck on his stick (2:06 per game) particularly in the offensive zone (1:17 per game) in the last three games compared to the prior six. More possession time has meant not only more shots for him but also for his teammates, as he has accumulated more shot assists (passes in which the receiver shoots the puck prior to losing possession) in the past three games (6) than he had in his previous six games (5).
“It should be noted that he has spent 5:32 on ice per game while on the power play over these past three games (compared to 3:03 per game in his previous six), so the next step in his game will be to see this same level of success when there is a larger percentage of five-on-five play.”
It’ll be interesting to see if the trend continues for Bedard or if it had more to do with facing the Coyotes twice and playing the Capitals from well behind.
(Photo of Connor Bedard shooting against the Coyotes: Kamil Krzaczynski / USA Today)
