“He’s a stud,” Boston Bruins No. 1 defenseman Charlie McAvoy said.
“Unreal,” said the Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes, a favorite to win this season’s Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman.
“He’s got that it factor,” Nashville Predators coach Andrew Brunette said.
“He’ll be a big-time defenseman for a long time,” Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.
“A hell of a player,” Bedard said.
Picking between Bedard and Faber will be extremely challenging for Calder voters; they’re completely different players at different positions on teams that were in different situations this season. It’s like comparing two separate species. But that’s the challenge for Professional Hockey Writers Association members when they get their ballots. It’s perfectly OK to appreciate both as unique talents who will be battling against each other for the next decade-plus.
“That guy is fucking good,” one NHL scout said of Faber. “(Bedard) is special, and he does a lot with not much help. But if he’s valuable to his team, you talk about (Faber) too. If (Faber’s) not back there, it’s going to be trouble. That’s a hard one. “If (the Wild) sneak into the playoffs, it’s got to be him.”
So if you’re voting, one key question to think about is this: What’s more impressive? A rookie stepping in as a No. 1 defenseman? Or a kid starting as a No. 1 center? “Defense has always been more complex to round out your game because you’ve had to defend near your goal and you have to master the art of playing smartly at the opposing blue line,” Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman said. “I have heard that Luke Richardson has lately openly said Bedard has to learn to play the defensive side of the puck much more frequently.
“Bedard gets a lot of hype — deservedly so. But I have never seen reported his (plus-minus rating, currently minus-37). Most of the younger aces have always been offensive guys who, in time, must learn the 200-foot game. My two experiences on players I coached were Jacques Lemaire, who in junior only played offense but after his first few years with the Canadiens learned how to play two way; and (Steve) Yzerman, halfway through his career in Detroit played the 200-foot game — which I give them credit for, by changing their style and, to me, is the reason they won multiple Stanley Cups.”
Part of the fun of the debate is it doesn’t have to end this year. Faber and Bedard will go up against each other for years. Bigger awards, perhaps a Hart or Norris, could be in their future.
8 comments
Phrasing
It should be a pretty easy call IMO. Remove bedard from the lineup and chicago still sucks. Remove Faber from the lineup and the wild dont stand a chance at making the playoffs and even if they did, aren’t going anywhere! Its still a longshot we make the playoffs with faber in the lineup but to be thrown in the fire of what a top D pairing needs to do and succeed like Faber has…now thats something that needs to be recognized!
Which one of us is posting this into r/hockey to get lit up again?
Nothing makes me more tired than seeing the stats on how awful Bedard is at defense and knowing he’ll still win the Calder.
“But he’s 18 and his team is bad!” As if the Calder is a compensation prize for having to play on a team that intentionally shot itself in the foot to get picks
Perhaps there should be an offensive rookie of the year and a defensive ROY.
Maybe the league could adopt an offensive and defensive rookie of the year?
Bedard’s going to win and I’m fine with that. Chicago will still suck and the Wild will still have a #1 defenseman.
Faber will make All Rookie Team and will get a huge, deserved extension.
The NHL has based their identity around Bedard this season. There’s no way he’ll not get the Calder. But, Faber is fantastic and we’re really lucky to have him.