Blackhawks centre Bedard named NHL rookie of the month for March

NEW YORK — Edmonton centre Connor McDavid has been named the NHL's top star for March, while Chicago centre Connor Bedard has been honoured as rookie of the month.

Colorado centre Nathan MacKinnon and Nashville winger were named the league's second and third star, respectively.

McDavid led the league with 24 assists and 31 points in 15 games as the Oilers went 10-3-2 in March and moved into second place in the Pacific Division.

His March included his ninth career four-assist outing (March 21 versus Buffalo), five three-point efforts and a stretch of seven straight multi-point games to close the month (March 19-30).

The 27-year-old McDavid, who grew up in Newmarket, Ont., is in the hunt for a fourth straight Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer. He has 126 points, one fewer than league leaders MacKinnon and Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov.

Bedard, from North Vancouver, B.C., had four goals and 13 assists in 14 games last month.

He had a goal and four assists in a 7-2 win over Anaheim on March 12, becoming the fifth 18-year-old in NHL history to put up five points in a game.

Bedard, the first-overall pick at the 2023 NHL draft, leads all rookies this season in goals (21), assists (36) and points (57) through 60 appearances despite missing 14 games with a broken jaw.

Bedard was also the NHL rookie of the month in November and December.

He is the first player to earn the award three times since McDavid in 2015-16.

MacKinnon was second in the league with 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) as the Avalanche clinched a playoff spot with a 10-2-1 month.

He had a 19-game point streak ended in a 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday. He is the first NHL player to produce two separate point streaks of at least 19 games within the same season.

Forsberg, who had an 18-game point streak ended on March 26, shared second place in goals (12) and finished fifth in points (23) across 13 games to help the Predators move into the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with a 9-2-2 month.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2024.