Bedard, Blackhawks agree to 5-year, $75M deal
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- Connor Bedard agreed to a five-year, $75 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks, announced Saturday, completing a major offseason goal for the rebuilding franchise and ending his restricted free agent status.
- The deal was finalized 10 days after Bedard underwent surgery on his left shoulder, an injury suffered while skating with NHL players in western Canada; the center is expected to miss the start of the season.
- Bedard, who turned 21 on Friday, set career highs this season with 30 goals and 45 assists in 69 games and won the Calder Trophy as the 2023-24 NHL rookie of the year after going No. 1 overall in the 2023 draft.
- The Blackhawks went 29-39-14 last season — an 11-point improvement but still their third consecutive finish at No. 31 in the NHL — and have not made the playoffs since the expanded 2020 postseason.
- GM Kyle Davidson praised Bedard's work ethic and called him a player who 'makes the players around him better,' while teammates including Oliver Moore publicly backed him as ready to be captain.
- The Blackhawks also acquired defenseman Bowen Byram from Buffalo on June 23 and signed forward prospect Roman Kantserov in May, and Bedard could become the franchise's 36th captain after Chicago traded away its entire leadership group in March.
Why it matters: At a $15 million AAV, the deal gives Chicago cost certainty on its most important asset through Bedard's age-26 season as the team tries to climb out of three straight last-place finishes. The captaincy is now openly the next chapter — Bedard was promoted to alternate captain in March after the front office gutted the locker-room leadership, signaling a planned succession rather than an audition.
