What is happening to Connor Bedard and why I think it is temporary

It is no surprise that Bedard has not been playing his best hockey to start his sophomore season. 

In 28 games played this year he has just five goals and 16 assists for 21 points. We all know that he can be playing better hockey. Having 62 points in your rookie season is no easy feat, but fans expected to see him take off to another level this season. 

People are very quickly giving up on this kid but I think we need to look at trends of not only hockey players but all athletes. One example that really sticks out is Jack Hughes. One of the most highly anticipated prospects of this generation coming into his rookie year finishes with just 21 points and quickly becomes the laughing stock of the league. I remember twitter having a field day with him talking about how he is the biggest bust since Greg Oden. 

Do I think me of all people should be defending Bedard for his poor play? Absolutely not. Do I think it is a very common trend where we take highly recruited athletes and build them up just to tear them down ten times worse when they have a below average season or game? Yes I do. 

I personally think he is just realizing his big role not only on this team, but for the NHL as well. He has millions of people looking for him every game to be the next Crosby but forget that just like any job, you have to keep experiencing it to be better and he's played less than 100 games up to this point. Let’s also not forget that Crosby was called  “crybaby crosby” for the first portion of his career. 

I think he is still the same talented player that the Blackhawks drafted a year prior. With more time and games played I see him excelling in his role as a leader and playmaker of this team. 

As time goes on and he possibly does come out of this slump, I can’t wait to see what all the people will be saying then about the kind of player he is.