Young NHL rookie Connor Bedard, drafted first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks, has been said to be the most anticipated prospect since Sidney Crosby, but fans might wonder if the pressure will be too much for him.
Certainly, some well-known prospects live up to their potential and succeed in the NHL, but there have also been a fair share who don’t. There have been many instances throughout NHL history where highly anticipated prospects cracked under the pressure, or simply failed to make much noise around the league.
One of the most recent examples of this is the case of Shane Wright, who was drafted fourth overall last year by the Seattle Kraken.
Wright was one of the most hyped prospects of the 2022 NHL draft. He played for a total of eight games in the NHL before being sent down to the AHL. This season, he was cut from the Kraken’s 2023-24 team roster.
A second and especially strong example of this phenomenon is the first overall pick of 2020, Alexis Lafrenière. Besides coming from the same minor league team as Sidney Crosby, Lafrenière also shared many commonalities with the NHL star.
He and Crosby are the only two players to win the Canadian Hockey League player of the year award two consecutive years in a row. He is also the first player from that minor league team, Rimouski Oceanic, to be ranked number one on Central Scout’s final North American skater list since Crosby in 2005.
After he was drafted by the New York Rangers, he was expected to be one of the hottest players in the league, maybe even following in Crosby’s footsteps. Despite all this, Lafrenière finished the 2020-21 NHL season with 21 points – 12 goals and nine assists – drastically fewer than what he was expected to attain.
Overall, the downfall of eagerly awaited prospects seems to be a common trend in the NHL. It is not certain what the cause of this is, but it is likely that these young players feel overwhelmed by the lofty expectations placed upon them at such a young age.
With it being so early in the season, fans will have to wait to see if Bedard will fall onto the same path.
