NHL 24: Predicting Connor Bedard’s rookie overall rating
The future of the Chicago Blackhawks changed for the better on Wednesday, June 28. This is the night that the Chicago Blackhawks selected Connor Bedard, officially jumpstarting the team’s future.
Connor Bedard has been the consensus No. 1 overall pick for quite a while now. With his NHL debut imminent come October, it will be interesting to see where EA Sports has him pegged for NHL 24.
The NHL Entry Draft is a big moment for NHL players and fans. This is the night where potential legends are brought into the NHL. As we see more players each year being drafted into the NHL, that means new faces making their way into the NHL video game franchise. There is no news on when NHL 24 will be released, but we can safely assume it will be released at some point between the end of September and early October.
When NHL 24 hits the shelves, Connor Bedard will be a playable character on the Chicago Blackhawks. That is a fact. The only fact we don’t know yet is what overall will this future Superstar be rewarded with for his rookie season. Usually, it is very hard to predict how EA Sports will rate rookies. They haven’t played in the NHL before, and it is hard to predict how their game will translate into the NHL. For that reason, EA usually plays it safe by giving them a relatively lower overall with room to grow.
What overall rating will EA Sports grant rookie Connor Bedard in NHL 24?
The current best player in the NHL is Connor McDavid. McDavid was drafted during the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, and made his NHL video game debut in NHL 16. EA Sports was extremely generous with Connor McDavid’s rookie overall as he was granted an 82 overall right out of the gate. This is one of the highest rookie ratings to ever be seen in an NHL video game right out of the gate but given the hype around McDavid and the generational talent he was said to have, it made total sense.
The very next year during the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, another star was born at the first overall pick. The Toronto Maple Leafs selected an elite prospect in Auston Matthews. There were tons of hype around Auston Matthews, and he did not disappoint with his talent he has brought into the NHL. He made his video game debut in NHL 17 where EA Sports was not as generous, but still granted him a respectable 77 overall. This was a safe move by EA Sports as it gave him room to grow, and they knew he wasn’t better than McDavid.
By the end of the 2016-2017 NHL season, Auston Matthews ended with an 86 overall in NHL 17, moving up 9 overall points. That just goes to show you how much he improved and impressed during only the 19-year old’s rookie season.
That brings us to Connor Bedard and what he may be rated in NHL 24. Bedard is the most hyped prospect in the NHL since Connor McDavid in 2015. The talent that this young kid is said to have is generational and can truly turn a franchise around. A lot of people think he is the second behind McDavid and right ahead of Matthews in terms of hype and prospect ranking. That doesn’t guarantee that he will put up numbers like these two do each year, but that does give Blackhawk fans something to look forward to for sure.
I believe that EA Sports is going to give him a rating smack dab in the middle of McDavid and Matthews. It is the only thing that makes sense. With that being said, I believe Connor Bedard’s rookie overall is going to be an 80 overall. That would give him the respect he has earned pre-draft, but it isn’t also giving him a crazy high rating as well. An 80 overall gives Bedard room to improve and showcase what he is capable of producing during his rookie year.
If you take a look at the current NHL 23 ratings, Connor McDavid sits as the highest rated player in the game at a 95 overall and Matthews sits as the second highest in NHL 23 with a 94 overall. If Connor Bedard truly lives up to his potential, there are big things coming for him in his NHL career and his NHL video game career. With that being said, if everything pans out the way it is supposed to for Connor Bedard, I would not be surprised to see him reach a 94 or 95 overall at some point in NHL video games down the line.
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Connor Bedard truly has a ton of potential and I cannot wait to see his career play out with the Chicago Blackhawks. This is truly a franchise changing moment.