After Connor Bedard’s Calder Trophy season as an 18-year-old, it begs the question of who else put together very impressive seasons for the Chicago Blackhawks while under the age of 20?
Most of the names are legends, including Denis Savard, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Jeremy Roenick and even Bobby Hull. Bedard will have another chance to move higher in the all-time rankings for the Blackhawks at age 19 in his second NHL season
Let’s dive into the best seasons by a Blackhawk under 20 years old.
Eddie Olczyk
Eddie Olczyk was dominant to start his career up until his mid 20s. The Chicago native’s career started off hot in 1984-85 with 20 goals and 50 points in 70 games at 18 years of age. This point total has him tied for seventh in Blackhawks history by a teenager.
More impressively, Olczyk popped off for 29 goals and 79 points in 70 games the season after at 19 years old, setting and still holding the record for most points by a player under 20 years old by a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. Unfortunately, since his career declined pretty quickly before the age of 30, he won’t enter the Hall of Fame, but Olczyk is an important member of Blackhawks history.
Denis Savard
Denis Savard is a whole other conversation. He not only had an incredible start to his career, he was named one of NHL’s 100 Greatest Players and is in the Hall of Fame.
His first season as a 19-year-old in 1980-81 saw him score 29 goals and record 75 points in 76 games. While it is second to Olczyk’s top season as a teenager, Savard proceeded to record nine consecutive point-per-game seasons, five of the next seven finishing with over 100 points. This rookie season by Savard only got him a fifth place in Calder trophy voting.
Patrick Kane
Patrick Kane is still producing at a great rate and will be 36 years old this year. In his rookie season with the Blackhawks in 2007-08 he produced 21 goals and 72 points in 82 games, earning him the Calder Trophy. His career only went up from there.
Kane played 15 more seasons for the Blackhawks, 11 of which were point-per-game seasons. He also helped Chicago capture three Stanley Cups and was named as one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players as well.
Jeremy Roenick
Jeremy Roenick only played 20 games for the Blackhawks in his first eligible season after being drafted, scoring nine goals and 18 points. But his first season where he was considered a rookie was in 1989-90 when he scored 26 goals and 66 points in 76 games. This got him a third place finish in Calder Trophy voting.
Roenick somehow never won anything in his NHL career but is now in the Hall of Fame, deservedly so. He followed that strong rookie season with the Blackhawks up with six consecutive point-per-game seasons, his last with Chicago as he moved to the Phoenix Coyotes after that. Roenick put up three 100-point seasons in a row from 1991 to 1994 as well.
Connor Bedard
Bedard’s first season with the Blackhawks was a memorable one even though the team was very bad around him. That will change in his second season, but he still led the offense when he was healthy and had the best season as an 18-year-old in Blackhawks history, scoring 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games.
Bedard will once again lead the top line and if he doesn’t suffer another injury, he has a chance to set the Blackhawks’ record for the most points as a teenager. He just needs to hit 80 points and everything from his linemates to the top power play to the defensemen will be better around him.
Jonathan Toews
In the same season where Kane won the Calder Trophy, Jonathan Toews, Chicago’s eventual long-time captain, finished third in voting after putting together a 24-goal, 54-point season in 64 games in 2007-08 as a 19-year-old.
Toews would also end up winning three Stanley Cups. Though Toews was never a top offensive player in the league, he still produced throughout his career, finishing over a point-per-game once. His real impact on the game was defensively, receiving votes for the Selke Trophy in 12 straight seasons after his rookie campaign. He too was named one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players.
Bobby Hull
The Hall of Famer Bobby Hull, like Olczyk, had two impressive seasons as a teenager. His better season came in 1958-59 by scoring 18 goals and 50 points in 70 games, but his 18-year-old season prior to that saw him score 13 goals and 47 points in 70 games as well.
Hull was very dominant in his time, finishing in the top-3 in Hart trophy voting eight times in his limited NHL career due to his seven seasons in the World Hockey Association playing for the Winnipeg Jets. Hull was yet another one of the former Blackhawks to be named as one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players.
There’s a big drop-off in production by a Blackhawks teenager after this group, which takes us to the next best season to show it. After 47 points by Hull in a 70-game season, Grant Mulvey had the next best season as a 19-year-old with just 11 goals and 28 points in 64 games.
Every one of these players who produced at a high level in their season(s) as a teenager was a forward. The Blackhawks have a good number of young players coming, but most of them will be over the age of 20 before having a chance to put up one of the best seasons in franchise history like Bedard.