Is Bedard or Schaefer the better player to start a franchise with?
The Chicago Blackhawks and New York Islanders both have a lot to feel good about after the first couple weeks of the NHL season, especially relating to their respective recent first overall picks.
After a challenging sophomore season, Chicago’s Connor Bedard has found a new gear, scoring two goals and dishing out five assists for seven points in seven games while skating to a plus-3 rating. While plus/minus certainly has its limitations, Bedard drew major criticism for a combined minus-80 start to his career through his first two years.
For New York’s Matthew Schaefer, it looks so far like no adjustment period will be needed for him to establish himself as a legitimate star defenseman. A dynamic skater who covers ice exceptionally well, the No. 1 overall pick from the 2025 NHL Draft has taken a stranglehold on the early Calder Trophy race with seven points in his first six games.
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Irfaan Gaffar and co-host and former NHL defenseman Colby Cohen responded to a question from a viewer about which of these two future faces of the NHL would be more desirable to build a franchise from scratch around.
Irfaan Gaffar: Time for #AskDFO. The one question, Colby, that completely stood out to me right away: If you had to pick Schaefer or Bedard to start a franchise around, who would you pick?
Colby Cohen: Schaefer. And it’s nothing against Connor Bedard, because he obviously looks the bit of a franchise player to start this season, but I’m somebody who believes in building your team from the back out, and when you have the opportunity to have a franchise number-one defenseman, I personally think that’s where you start. You obviously need that forward, that center as well, and if you ask the Chicago Blackhawks when they went through their dynasty, obviously a lot of that had to do with Kane and Toews, but you have Keith who’s a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, and you have Seabrook who’s not far behind. My personal preference would have been Schaefer based on what we’ve seen… but that’s a great question that you’re asking.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…