Connor Bedard shouldn't be exempt from criticism, but the criticism needs context

The Blackhawks have lost to last year’s two Stanley Cup finalists in consecutive games, and national TV analysts have sharply criticized teenage star Connor Bedard during both games.

During the first intermission Saturday against the Panthers, ABC/ESPN analyst Mark Messier called out Bedard for not being strong enough on his stick to prevent Sam Reinhart from scoring a net-front goal. That was true, but Messier’s follow-up comments implying Bedard should be benched for it were over-dramatic.

"I’m sorry, the excuses for a young player are over now," Messier said. "He has to be better than that. Sure enough, they get a power play and who goes right onto the ice? Bedard. There’s no quicker way to destroy the morale of the team than having players who don’t earn their ice time."

During the second intermission Wednesday against the Oilers, TNT analysts Anson Carter and Paul Bissonnette broke down several video clips of Bedard making ill-advised or presumptive passes with low probabilities of success. They also mentioned a poorly timed line change.

“There’s so many little details to his game that he’s lacking right now,” Bissonnette said. “Yes, he might put up 30 to 35 goals a season . . . but they’re going to continue to lose hockey games if that’s how he’s playing. That is pond hockey.”

In both cases, there were grounds for criticism. The two incidents fall into a different bucket than Jeremy Roenick’s childish whining about Bedard after the Winter Classic.

But all of it demonstrates just how bright the spotlight still is on Bedard and how much attention every imperfection of his receives, even now that the novelty factor of his rookie season has dissipated.

Bissonnette added that Oilers stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, two of the best offensive minds in hockey, don’t rely on “hope plays” as much as Bedard. He’s not wrong, but comments like that set an impossibly high bar for Bedard at this stage of his career.

Since Bedard has already been in the spotlight for so long, the fact he’s still only 19 years old seems to be forgotten or ignored at times.

“[Connor is] a 19-year-old kid, and he is under a microscope,” Hawks interim coach Anders Sorensen said Wednesday. “[With] everything we’re asking him to do, he puts his best foot forward and tries it. Mistakes are part of it. With him, the effort has been there, but he gets highlighted a lot because of his stature and profile of his game. He’s handling it real well. I give him a lot of credit.”

It’s fair to say Bedard shouldn’t be exempt from criticism, but any criticism should include several pieces of context.

First, he’s 19. Second, he has a meager supporting cast — his linemates Wednesday were Ryan Donato and Landon Slaggert, after all. Third, he was facing the best teams in the NHL in these two particular games.

And fourth, Bedard is scrutinized a hundred times more closely than anyone else on this 31st-place team because he’s the only player with any leaguewide notability, to some extent. His mistakes are always highlighted; the countless mistakes made by every other Hawk, other than possibly Seth Jones, are not.

Of course, Bedard can and does need to improve as he develops. Sorensen saw the same plays that Bissonnette did with his own eyes and addressed them. He and Bedard also had a lengthy chat before practice Thursday.

“There were some really good parts of his game, and there [was] some puck-management stuff,” Sorensen said Thursday. “He’s a smart player, but he’s aware. Even if you look at those turnovers he had, if you look at who’s the first guy back after those turnovers, it’s him. So he knows.”

Bedard assessed his performance similarly, admitting there was “good and bad” and he needs to “clean up the bad.” When asked about TNT’s comments, he asserted he “couldn’t really care less, to be honest, what people on the outside think of me.”

Note: Forward Jason Dickinson suffered a high-ankle sprain against the Oilers, Sorensen said. It’s a relatively lucky outcome in terms of the type of injury, but he could still miss significant time.