Connor Bedard vs Connor McDavid: Is Blackhawks rookie the next face of the NHL?

On Tuesday night, the reigning NHL MVP, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, will welcome the Chicago Blackhawks to Rogers Place, marking his first meeting with former first-overall pick Connor Bedard.

Despite being one of the marquee matchups in the early part of the NHL season, the schedule makers will make everyone on the East Coast stay up a little later for the 10 pm EST puck drop.

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Ultimately, some people will ask why this contest is so important and why they should lose some sleep to watch it. Hypothetically, after defining an era for almost two decades, this new saga between the Connors will rival that of Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, which began in 2005 and is in the final chapter.

Instead of two Eastern Conference future Hall of Famers going head-to-head, the NHL spotlight has shifted to the Western Conference, where two of the game's youngest and brightest play in a matchup that could define the regular season and playoffs for the next decade.

Now, the unofficial torch has been handed off to the two Connors. There's quite a difference between the two since one wins scoring titles with ease, and the other is a young kid with a bright future whom the NHL has done everything to market their product around.

Connor McDavid is undeniably the current face of the NHL

After making his debut in 2015, Connor McDavid has already earned a first-ballot induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame, not because he's tallied 886 points in 532 games or because he's won 13 NHL awards, including five scoring titles and three MVP awards, but because he skates and creates plays, unlike anyone in history.

Whether you live in Florida, California, New York, or Edmonton, there's a good chance that McDavid pops up every night on Sportscenter and blows fans away with his speed and creativity in the highlight packages.

Although McDavid has yet to lead the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final, there's no denying he's the best player in professional hockey in 2023. Despite what the fans and experts think, championships go a long way to determining a player's legacy, and capturing a single ring would cement McDavid's place amongst the greatest.

Now, at 26, he's right in the middle of two generations, one led by Crosby, winding down his legendary NHL career, and the up-and-coming one led by Bedard, who is just 18.

Is it too early to tap Connor Bedard as the face of the NHL?

Heading into the game on Tuesday night, Connor Bedard has tallied 23 points in 27 games for the 31st-ranked Blackhawks (9-17-1). Unfortunately, based on his team's play, he's currently minus-14, the third worst in the lineup. However, the rookie is not shy about shooting the puck, with a team-leading 84 shots already, equalling over three a game.

Statistically, Bedard is on pace to beat McDavid's rookie totals since the latter skated in only 45 games (48 points) that year due to injury.

Ultimately, as the 2023-24 leading scorer among rookies, Connor Bedard can achieve something McDavid missed out on: taking home the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.

Does winning the Calder Trophy push him ahead in the conversation about who the NHL's face is? Realistically, it's way too early to tell. Unless Connor Bedard leads the Blackhawks to the playoffs (0.3% chance on Tuesday morning), he still has much work to do to be in the conversation.

However, there's no stopping the NHL from marketing Bedard and the Blackhawks, giving them as much prime-time coverage as possible. But there's a catch to all this. Unfortunately, not only are the Blackhawks struggling on the ice, but off the ice, the franchise can't stay out of the media with several scandals occurring behind closed doors.

Ultimately, it's a challenging era in Blackhawks history today, and the NHL has to roll with the good and the bad if they wish to give Connor Bedard the same treatment they gave Crosby back in 2005. It worked out all those years ago when Crosby came out from Mario Lemieux's shadow, but now, Bedard doesn't have the same support network, which explains why Chicago isn't winning many games.

Overall, tonight is just game one of many future headline matchups between McDavid and Bedard that fans should expect to see for the next decade. Although people in the United States will want to prop up Connor Bedard as the face of the NHL, everyone in Canada understands it's McDavid, and it will be his until the end of the decade, if not longer.