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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStacy Revere\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Chicago Blackhawks and Connor Bedard are working on a contract extension.<\/p>\n
The Chicago Blackhawks<\/a> chose forward Connor Bedard with the first overall selection of the 2023 NHL Draft, and while he\u2019s become the face of the rebuilding franchise since then, he\u2019s yet to appear in his first Stanley Cup Playoff game.<\/p>\n While the Blackhawks improved a total of 11 points from last season in 2025-26, they still came nowhere close to breaking their postseason drought, which is now at six years and counting.<\/p>\n Even more importantly is the contract status for Bedard, who just completed the third season of his three-year, entry-level contract he signed not long after being drafted by Chicago.<\/p>\n The expectation is that Bedard is going to be paid handsomely to remain in Chicago for the foreseeable future, and there doesn\u2019t appear to be any significant obstacles in making that a reality.<\/p>\n Connor Bedard Spoke Honestly About His Contract Negotiations With The Blackhawks<\/p>\n Following their final regular-season game, Bedard made it clear that the organization needs to start winning more games.<\/p>\n (At) the end of the day, we\u2019ve got to start winning,\u201d Bedard said.<\/a> \u201cIt\u2019s been a while, and I think it takes a toll on you, and you want to make that step. We talk about it all the time, but it\u2019s on us to go out there, have good summers, come back and make that leap.\u201d<\/p>\n Well aware of the noise surrounding his contract status, Bedard didn\u2019t appear to leave any doubt that he was coming back with a lengthy contract with the Blackhawks.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just seeing kind of what fits the team best, what fits me best and just going from there kind of thing,\u201d Bedard said. \u201cSo, you know, I\u2019m very open to however they see it and what they have to say.\u201d<\/p>\n Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson, who was recently given a contract extension of his own, said that there shouldn\u2019t be any issues hammering out an agreement between the two sides.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll get that done, and we\u2019ll get to work soon on that,\u201d Davidson said. \u201cLike I said, he\u2019s so important to our team. He took such a big step forward this year in every facet. So yeah, that\u2019s certainly an important one to cross off the list.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Davidson also hinted at adding to the roster to supplement Bedard\u2019s talent.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re definitely going to explore what\u2019s out there,\u201d said Davidson, who finalized a multiyear contract extension with the team before the season finale. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m shy to try things. Just nothing has arisen in the last little while to make that happen. But we\u2019re going to look at what we can do to add to the roster, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n The Blackhawks Know Connor Bedard Is The Face Of Their Franchise<\/p>\n The Blackhawks are well aware that Bedard is the face of the franchise.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a guy that has played with him and been on the team since he\u2019s been here, I\u2019ve seen how he\u2019s changed as a person and player, and he\u2019s shown everybody in this organization \u2013 including me \u2013 that he knows what it takes to win,\u201d said Ryan Donato. \u201cHe\u2019s put in the work and he\u2019s dedicated and obviously he\u2019s the franchise player. We want to make sure we play our best for him, but he wants to give his best to every guy.\u201d<\/p>\n Bedard finished his third NHL season by scoring 30 goals with 45 assists.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMichael Whitaker<\/a> Michael Whitaker is a sports journalist based in metro Detroit with nearly a full decade of experience with publications like Clutch Points and The Hockey News. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Eastern Michigan University. More about Michael Whitaker<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Blackhawks\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stacy Revere\/Getty Images The Chicago Blackhawks and Connor Bedard are working on a contract extension. The Chicago Blackhawks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[521,37,96,5263,5,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-554166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-blackhawks","8":"tag-blackhawks","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","11":"tag-chicagoblackhawks","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116417063593206977","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}