The eye test easily tells you the impact Connor Bedard has had on the Chicago Blackhawks this season.
But when you start looking at the numbers, Bedard’s play has been even more impressive. From his entries to his shots to his primary assists, he’s all over the Blackhawks’ leaderboard.
In my variation of Dom Luszczyszyn’s 16 Stats, I look at 17 stats focusing on Bedard, the Blackhawks and even some of their prospects.
1.03: With a primary assist in Michigan’s 5-2 win over Michigan State in the NCAA tournament, Frank Nazar continued to average more than a point a game this season. He has 17 goals and 24 assists in 40 games.
While Michigan’s season won’t end until April 11 or 13 now, I do think Nazar could still turn pro and finish the season with the Blackhawks. He could play 2-3 games in the final week of the season. Along with Nazar, the Blackhawks will have two other prospects in college hockey’s Frozen Four with Ryan Greene (Boston) and Aidan Thompson (Denver) also advancing to St. Paul, Minn.
By the way, Nazar is one of six Blackhawks prospects to average a point or more a game this season (minimum 20 games). The others are Gavin Hayes (1.38), Nick Lardis (1.35), Paul Ludwinski (1.15), Cole Guttman (1.08) and Samuel Savoie (1.05).
1.27: Bedard is averaging 1.27 primary assists per 60 minutes this season, which ranks 24th in the NHL. He’s just ahead of Patrick Kane, who is averaging 1.26 primary assists. Philipp Kurashev is averaging 1.18 primary assists per 60, which is tied for 31st.
2: Rockford IceHogs goalie Drew Commesso allowed two goals or less in five of his seven starts in March. He stopped 181 of 194 shots for a .933 save percentage over the month.
For the season, Commesso has a .906 save percentage in 33 games.
5: Kurashev has scored a team-high five goals in the past 10 games. He’s done that with just 17 shots on net for a 29.41 shooting percentage. To compare, Bedard has four goals on 41 shots during those 10 games.
What a beautiful pass by Connor Bedard. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/ThJuc5tB8n
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 30, 2024
7: Roman Kantserov, a 2023 second-round pick, has seven points in 12 playoff games in the KHL. He has four goals and three assists. In the regular season, he had 15 points in 53 games. He’s getting more opportunity with his ice time up to 14:14 a game in the playoffs and he’s producing more. The Blackhawks have to be pleased.
8: Guttman had eight multi-point games for the IceHogs in March. He finished the month with 11 goals and 11 assists in 12 games. In his first 27 games this season, he had five goals and 11 assists.
The Blackhawks have just one recall from Rockford remaining, so that may impact whether Guttman gets another chance in the NHL this season.
8.26: Nick Foligno leads the Blackhawks with 8.26 forecheck pressures per 60 minutes, according to Corey Sznajder’s tracking data. Jason Dickinson is second at 7.89.
9.5: Petr Mrázek ranks eighth in the NHL with 9.5 goalie points shares, according to Hockey Reference. A goalie point share estimates how many points a goalie contributes to the team with his play. The share matches Mrázek’s season best for the Detroit Red Wings in 2015-16.
13.5: If the season ended today, the Blackhawks would have a 13.5 percent chance at the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery, 14.1 for No. 2, 30.7 for No. 3 and 41.7 for No. 4.
15.0: Kevin Korchinski has led Blackhawks defensemen with a 15.0 entry denial percentage, according to Sznajder’s data. Alex Vlasic is second with 13.5. Both are among the upper echelon of the league in that category.
18.36: Bedard averages 18.36 controlled entries per 60 minutes, according to Sznajder’s data. Only five players — Jack Hughes, Jack Eichel, Nikolaj Ehlers, Nathan MacKinnon and Mathew Barzal — are ahead of him.
20: Bedard leads the Blackhawks with 20 penalties drawn this season. That’s tied for 77th in the league. Ryan Donato and Reese Johnson are tied for second…
This article was originally published by a theathletic.com . Read the Original article here. .