Could Connor Bedard Wait To Sign His Next Contract?
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Morning Skate with Scott Laughlin and Gord Stellick and was asked about Connor Bedard and when he will sign an extension with the Chicago Blackhawks.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Stellick: “So Elliotte, last week, we left you with homework, and even a week later, like, I’m looking at the Chicago Blackhawks situation again. Connor Bedard, the El Gordo plus minus police, is collecting the summons for being minus three or worse. Like who would have thought two years into it that he would be showing this kind of frustration in Chicago? I don’t know if he stepped back, whatever you want to term is and then I kind of said to you.
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Well, we thought he’d be getting a second contract like Auston Matthews did, or Connor McDavid did a year in advance. So, I mean, what’s the skinny on that situation? People say, Oh, they’re going to get big free agents. Well, big free agents don’t like going to organizations that aren’t winning. So I’m curious, two years after a narrative that I really didn’t expect for Connor Bedard, the way things have gone in Chicago.”
Friedman: “I just think that the other thing, too, now, Gordie, is I want to know if he’s going to wait to see what the new CBA is. Somebody had a good point to me. They said, what if? Why would you sign before the new CBA is done? Now, I think the new CBA, it could be done. I know they’d love it. Bettman has said he’d love to get it done for the start of the Stanley Cup Final. He does a media conference every year at the start of the Stanley Cup Final Game 1, and he said at the Board of Governors meeting in October or September, whenever it was, that he would love to have it done by then.
Now, that might be overly ambitious. I’m not sure that’s going to be possible, but it’s not it’s not impossible, and it’s either going to get done this year or early next year, I think. But someone said to me, why would anyone sign before that? Just to see maybe if anything changes? Now, if you get an idea that the rules aren’t going to change, then you don’t do it. But I did have someone say to me for a star, for one of the top players, and Bedard is the franchise player in Chicago, might you wait to see if any rules change?
I thought that was an interesting perspective because it makes me wonder what exactly people are thinking about here. But I think this like, I agree with your point. A lot of players don’t want to go places that aren’t winning the top players. But the other thing too, Gordy is that look at all the guys who are starting to come off the market, and that’s going to make the competition even more fierce.
The number one guy right now is (Mitch) Marner, and I don’t know that he’s going to go to Chicago, but I know the competition for him is going to be fierce if he gets there. But other than that, like I’m looking at it, and how many true, real difference makers are going to be available in free agency, and if you look at Chicago I mean, they tried surrounding Bedard with some veterans, and it hasn’t gone very well.
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So either you try again or you change the criteria of what you’re looking at, or the other option is just you wait for your young kids to grow. Like you look at these guys, (Frank) Nazar (Artyom) Levshunov but you can see the potential. It’s a long path, but it might be your best answer.”
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