Why Connor Bedard is Hockey’s Next Big Thing

In hockey, there’s only one player who’s known as “The Great One:” Wayne Gretzky. But in the decades since #99 hung up his skates…there’s been a whole bunch of “Next Ones.”
Alex Ovechkin is “The Great 8,” Sidney Crosby was “The Next One,” Connor McDavid is sometimes called “The Next Sidney Crosby.” And for 2023’s projected first overall pick…17 year old Connor Bedard, the pressure is on to follow in that legacy. So today, as the NHL prepares for the draft lottery, Emily Kaplan tells us a little more about hockey’s next “Next Big Thing”...and whether he can live up to the hype as the game’s latest “can’t miss kid.”
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In hockey, there’s only one player who’s known as “The Great One:” Wayne Gretzky. But in the decades since #99 hung up his skates…there’s been a whole bunch of “Next Ones.”

Alex Ovechkin is “The Great 8,” Sidney Crosby was “The Next One,” Connor McDavid is sometimes called “The Next Sidney Crosby.” And for 2023’s projected first overall pick…17 year old Connor Bedard, the pressure is on to follow in that legacy. So today, as the NHL prepares for the draft lottery, Emily Kaplan tells us a little more about hockey’s next “Next Big Thing”...and whether he can live up to the hype as the game’s latest “can’t miss kid.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices