3 Connor Bedard Prop Bets to Make for the 2023-24 NHL Season

Connor Bedard's ready to unleash his generational talent on the NHL, and bettors are sure to be targeting the rookie phenom's player prop markets. We sort through the NHL odds for our best Bedard prop picks.

The Chicago Blackhawks won the Connor Bedard sweepstakes when the draft lottery took place on May 8, a day that will likely begin to turn this franchise back around to the days when it ran the league from 2010-2015. A lot of other developmental success will need to occur for that to happen, but the Hawks now have one of the best prospect pools in hockey, spearheaded by a generational prospect in Bedard.

The Bedard hype has reached mainstream sports media; the NHL and its media will continue to push him. Sportsbooks want in on the action as well, with plenty of prop offerings available on the No. 1 overall pick.

Below, I walk through the NHL odds for my three favorite prop bets for Bedard’s rookie campaign.

Best Connor Bedard prop bets for 2023-24

Odds as of October 8, 2023.

1. Best in class

Evaluating top-tier hockey prospects is a bit “easier” (for lack of a better term) than other sports — typically, highly touted guys that are drafted in the top few spots pan out as you don’t see guys with a ton of hype bust as often as in other pro sports. Not only do top picks have a high success rate in the NHL, but their impacts are almost always immediate as well.

We have seen this play out time and again over the past two decades as we look at the list of first-overall picks to go on to win the Calder over the past 17 years:

• Alex Ovechkin
• Patrick Kane
• Nathan MacKinnon
• Aaron Ekblad
• Auston Matthews

Additionally, Evgeni Malkin (No. 2 overall pick), Gabriel Landeskog (No. 2), Jonathan Huberdeau (No. 3), Elias Pettersson (No. 5), Cale Makar (No. 4) and Matty Beniers (No. 2) all won the Calder over that same span. Bedard is going to get plenty of run in Chicago this year, QBing the PP1 while centering the first line.

The Chicago Blackhawks roster is still extremely underwhelming, so he will be leaned on heavily to produce offensively. Connor Bedard odds for the Calder look favorable; he was a goal-scoring machine at every level prior to the NHL as well as in every international competition — his release is the best we’ve seen from a rookie since Matthews (probably even better).

There are two things NHL Awards voters love — numbers and storylines. The media has already demonstrated its obsession for Bedard, so as long as the numbers are there (highly likely) and he stays healthy, he should be a runaway in this market.

Connor Bedard prop: Calder Trophy winner (-125 at BetRivers, risk 2 units)

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2. Score keeper

Speaking of those numbers, we are also going to look at Bedard to go over his goal total at 31.5 via FanDuel. High total, yes, but as I mentioned above, that release is devastating and is going to give opposing goaltenders an incredible amount of trouble.

Malkin scored 33 in his rookie year, Grabner 34, Laine 36, Crosby 39, Matthews 40, and Ovechkin rounds out the group with an outstanding 52 goals in his rookie campaign. Bedard is going to get first-line minutes along with the opportunity to QB the first power play unit, so the chances will be there for a kid who was skating around 20 minutes per game during the pre-season.

Bedard has been averaging over a goal-per-game at pretty much every level of his development, and while that obviously is unsustainable on the NHL, he still should be able to hover around the 35-goal mark as long as he stays healthy.

Connor Bedard prop: Over 31.5 goals (-113 at FanDuel, risk 0.50 units)

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3. Art show

The fumbling of the Artemi Panarin situation by Stan Bowman was what put the final nail in the coffin for the Hawks’ dynasty. However, not that he is any less valuable, but Panarin is a completely different player now than he was in Chicago.

In Chicago, he was the goal-scorer on the other end of Patrick Kane’s playmaking. In New York, his role has flipped, as he is now the playmaker who generates more scoring chances for others rather than himself.

He scored 22 goals in 2022 and 29 in 2023, but posted 74 and 63 assists respectively in those two years. Panarin is patient and is always looking for that extra pass, and his failure to reach the 30-goal mark since 2020 is more of a compliment to his playmaking than it is an indictment on his scoring ability.

Panarin’s goal totals hover around the 28 mark in the betting market, and as I talked about above, I like Bedard to finish around the 35 mark if he stays healthy.

Connor Bedard prop:-140 at DraftKings, risk 0.50 units)

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