CHICAGO \u2014 Connor Bedard is going to get paid. That\u2019s for sure. The only questions are how much and how many years.<\/p>\n
It also looks as if Bedard is going to be named captain of the Chicago Blackhawks. That seems like it\u2019s only a matter of timing.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the easy part of this offseason for Chicago. The rest of the picture is more complicated.<\/p>\n
The Blackhawks are moving into another big summer after going 29-39-14 this year, an 11-point improvement on the previous season and still nowhere near playoff contention. They have finished No. 31 in the NHL each of the last three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe end of the day, we\u2019ve got to start winning,\u201d Bedard said after the Blackhawks beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 in their season finale. \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
It all begins with Bedard, who continued his steady improvement in his third season since he was drafted No. 1 overall in 2023. The 20-year-old center set career highs with 30 goals and 45 assists in 69 games.<\/p>\n
Bedard is eligible for restricted free agency, but it\u2019s unlikely that his contract situation lingers for that long. He has said repeatedly how much he likes playing in Chicago and expressed confidence in the direction of the team. And Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson has made it clear what the rebuilding franchise thinks of its biggest star.<\/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
Bedard\u2019s contract may be a foregone conclusion, but the final numbers in terms of length and cap hit will help the shape the future of the franchise as it considers what it wants to do with the rest of its top prospects as their rookie deals wind down.<\/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
Chicago traded away its entire leadership group at the deadline, sending captain Nick Foligno to Minnesota and alternate captains Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson to Edmonton. Playing without some of their top veteran leaders, the Blackhawks went 6-11-4 in their last 21 games.<\/p>\n
Bedard became an alternate captain after the Murphy deal, and he said being named captain would be \u201ca special, special honor for sure.\u201d His teammates think he\u2019s ready for the challenge, too.<\/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 \u2014 including me \u2014 that he knows what it takes to win,\u201d fellow forward Ryan Donato said. \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
Chicago put together a solid start in its first season under coach Jeff Blashill, but it dropped off late in November. Then Bedard injured his right shoulder on Dec. 12 and Frank Nazar broke his jaw on Dec. 20, accelerating the decline for the team.<\/p>\n
The Blackhawks have made just one postseason appearance since 2017, and that was the expanded playoff format after the 2020 season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing into next season, it\u2019s, playoffs are the expectation,\u201d defenseman Alex Vlasic said. \u201cWe\u2019re not here to do this again. And we all know that in the locker room. We have confidence in our group.\u201d<\/p>\n
How much confidence Davidson has in his group of young players remains to be seen. While it has become increasingly difficult to sign an impact player in free agency, Davidson has the resources to trade for a star if he can find the right match.<\/p>\n
The Blackhawks drafted 11 players in the first round alone over the previous four years. They will have another top-four selection in this year\u2019s draft, along with three second rounders.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 Connor Bedard is going to get paid. That\u2019s for sure. The only questions are how much…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[521,37,96,5263,5,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-554612","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\/116420719663119043","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554612","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=554612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}