Chicago Blackhawks' Connor Bedard (98) pulls away from Edmonton Oilers' Evan Bouchard (2) during first period NHL action in Edmonton on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. Bedard has been named the NHL's rookie of the month for December. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
NEW YORK – Colorado centre Nathan MacKinnon, Toronto centre Auston Matthews and Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck have been named the NHL’s three stars for December, while Connor Bedard has been named the month’s top rookie
MacKinnon led the league with 18 assists and 29 points in 15 games.
Matthews led the NHL with 15 goals in 12 games and added six assists.
Hellebuyck went 7-0-2 with a 1.88 goals-against average and .934 save percentage in nine starts to lift the Jets to an NHL-best 10-1-2 December.
Bedard led all rookies last month with 10 assists and 15 points in 15 games.
MacKinnon’s 29 points set a franchise record for a single calendar month, besting Peter Stastny’s 28 in February, 1981, with the Quebec Nordiques.
MacKinnon, who had a 19-game point streak from Nov. 20 to Dec. 27, had nine multi-point performances in December, including four goals and an assist in a 6-4 win over Ottawa on Dec. 21.
The 28-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., entered Tuesday’s games second in league scoring with 58 points.
The 26-year-old Matthews, a two-time winner of the Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top goal-scorer, leads the league with 29 goals through 33 games.
The 30-year-old Hellebuyck shared the league lead in wins, while his goals-against average and save percentage placed second only to the Seattle Kraken’s Joey Daccord among goaltenders with a minimum of five appearances.
Hellebuyck, who won the Vezina Trophy as top goaltender in 2019-20, shares second place in the NHL with 17 wins and ranks among the league leaders with a 2.34 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.
The 18-year-old Bedard, from North Vancouver, B.C., was also tied for second among rookies with five goals and topped first-year players in power-play assists (five), power-play points (five) and shots on goal (50).
Bedard, the first-overall pick in the 2023 NHL draft, factored on 45.5 per cent of Chicago’s goals during the month (15 of 33), trailing only Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (56.9 per cent) and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (52.4 per cent).
Bedard, who also won the honour in November, leads all rookies in goals (15), assists (18) and points (33) through 36 games this season.
Columbus centre Adam Fantilli, Minnesota centre Marco Rossi, Carolina goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov, Philadelphia goalie Samuel Ersson and Buffalo netminder Devon Levi were also considered for the award.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2024.
