There has been background noise swirling the past few seasons of whether or not Connor Bedard would remain with the Chicago Blackhawks, and if he could potentially find his way to his hometown Vancouver Canucks.
The price to acquire the 20-year old phenom would surely include at least multiple first-round picks and top young prospects, but with Bedard currently in the midst of his best season as a pro and the Chicago Blackhawks in a playoff spot as of now, is all hope lost for Bedard sporting a Canucks uniform?
As a rookie during the 2023-2024 NHL season, Bedard scored 61 points in 68 games, followed by 67 points in 82 games last season, but only scoring 22 goals as a rookie, and 23 last season while also having a combined plus-minus rating of minus 80 in his first two seasons.
Bedard’s takeaway to giveaway ratio also became concerning last season, as he went from 47 takeaways and just 57 giveaways as a rookie, to 26 takeaways and 90 giveaways last season, putting him tied for 20th amongst forwards in total giveaways, while his even strength Corsi sits at just 44% for his career.
An explanation for both of these could be the fact that Bedard has been playing for a rebuilding team in Chicago, and has not had the benefit of playing with much top tier talent, which limits his offensive opportunities, forces him to try and carry the offensive burden himself, and allows other teams to focus more of their attention on shutting the young forward down.
Blackhawks unfazed by Bedard's "slow career start"
While background chatter about Bedard began to form, the Chicago Blackhawks seemed unconcerned and did not change their course based on the noise and narratives around the young sniper, as they have been patient in constructing their roster and have now surrounded Bedard with other young stars such as 2024 second overall pick Artyom Levshunov, and 2022 13th overall pick Frank Nazar.
While it would have been extremely interesting to see the Blackhawks pick first overall in 2024 to select another North Vancouver native in Macklin Celebrini to pair with Bedard, who I am sure will also be tied to the Canucks in speculation and narratives going forward given his lack of a contract extension, the 20-year old defenceman Levshunov has shown a lot of promise so far this season, as he has 13 points in 24 games while also beginning to see an uptick in minutes as of late.
As of now, Bedard remains unsigned beyond this season. His asking price both in trade and in contract dollars is surely increasing by the day, and the longer he remains without a contract the longer we will continue to hear about narratives and speculation regarding the potential of the young star joining another team.
Odds are that this Bedard early season break out, paired with the overall improvement of the Chicago Blawkhawks, dispels any potential for a trade. But with the young star being a restricted free agent this coming summer, there will absolutely be a lot of speculation and intrigue about whether or not another team will present him with an offer sheet, especially with the salary cap continuing to take big leaps going forward.
Get Bedard, keep Hughes?
Another angle one could take on this, is that if the Canucks are able to acquire Connor Bedard, their chances of retaining Quinn Hughes would increase exponentially as it would give them another key star to build the team around and help them win today.
Bedard would likely cost any team that tries to offer sheet him four first-round picks based on earning a projected salary of over $11.7 million dollars annually, a substantial amount of draft capital to give up, but for the Canucks addresses several immediate needs.
The Canucks most discussed need is acquiring a quality centre who can put the puck in the net and drive offensive play, which is 100% Bedard’s game as he is one of the most lethal shooters in the league, as seen below.
Bedard has taken a significant leap at the centre position this year as he has increased his face-off percentage by over 10% this season to 49.6%, is averaging a career high in minutes at 21:15 per game, and was even named an alternate captain for the team, as he wore the “A” on his jersey for the first time in a regular season game on November 21st.
Conclusion
Ultimately, it is a little curious and uncommon to let a player of Connor Bedard’s talent play out his entire rookie contract and get to restricted free agency without public knowledge of contract offers or any negotiations. This alone fuels narratives and leads people to question the motives of the Chicago Blackhawks, and if they view Bedard as a franchise player or not.
Perhaps the Blackhawks were waiting for the young phenom to prove himself a little more, which he is clearly doing this year, and a contract offer and negotiation could be on the way. But for now the speculation surrounding the contract of Connor Bedard is anyones guess.
The Blackhawks are in the driver's seat for now, as teams who decide to offer sheet Bedard, should we get that far, will have to decide if they deem him worth the price of up to four first-round picks. But a one-two punch of Connor Bedard and Elias Pettersson up the middle has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?