Connor Bedard left amazed by stat about LeBron James' longevity

Connor Bedard has only been in the league for two seasons, but he was tabbed as a generational prospect and potential future superstar. That was the same label once handed to LeBron James in basketball, and he went on to become arguably the greatest to ever do it.

Bedard likely wants to follow the same trajectory, but James has been doing this for an incredible amount of seasons. He will turn 40 on Nov. 30 and is still playing well in the NBA. A stat from James' career wowed Bedard as well.

The Chicago Blackhawks star said:

"Guess how many games under 10 points he has? [Seven] Something like that. In 21 years, isn't that the craziest stat? This guy, man. This guy, LeBron. He's him."

James has played at a high level for much longer than anyone else almost in the history of the sport. In the NHL, that label could apply to Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, both of whom have played 20 seasons so far and are still playing at a high level. If Bedard is able to last that long, he'd join those two and James in having incredible longevity.

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NHL insider expects Connor Bedard to improve at faceoffs

Connor Bedard, through two seasons in the NHL, has not excelled at faceoffs. As a center, that's a big part of his game, but he's struggled. In his rookie year, he had a 38.9 win percentage. That was not a good metric, but it's one that is sure to improve.

Connor Bedard can improve at faceoffs (Imagn)

Rob Couch of The Hockey News said:

"Just because a player starts out not being very good at something, doesn't mean they can't work on it and improve. First overall picks like Bedard didn't get to where they are by not working tirelessly on areas of the game they could improve.

"The Chicago Blackhawks first overall pick didn't get his incredible shot naturally or by luck, he worked at it, something he will do for faceoffs as he's a center."

No first overall pick center has ever had a win% over 48% in their first season. Bedard, while not good, did outperform Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (37.5%) and Jack Hughes (36.1%) in that metric.