Connor Bedard and Jeff Blashill are staring at Chicago's biggest file, and the price talk is already getting loud.
The new noise comes from Irfaan Gaffar's report that Bedard is looking at Kirill Kaprizov money, a number that sits at 17 million per season.
That matters because Chicago is not negotiating with a promising kid anymore. It is negotiating with the face of the franchise after a season where Bedard put up 30 goals and 75 points in 69 games.
Those are not empty totals on a loaded team. Bedard led the Blackhawks in scoring, and nobody else on the roster got close to his 75 points.
So the logic from Bedard's side is easy to understand. If Kaprizov is the bar for elite offensive stars, then Bedard's camp is going to look at that number and ask why Chicago's centerpiece should think smaller.
Chicago's side is just as easy to read. Bedard is still only 20, and the Blackhawks are not likely to jump happily to the very top of the pay scale before they absolutely have to.
That is where this gets interesting. Gaffar's take was not that a deal is close at 17 million. It was that Bedard is looking at that figure while the Blackhawks may not be near it right now.
" Irfaan Gaffar: I think that Connor Bedard is looking at Kirill Kaprizov money [17m AAV]...that is a number that he's looking at; I'm not entirely sure the Blackhawks...are close to that number when discussing Bedard right now - DFO Rundown (7/2) "
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Connor Bedard just changed the conversation around his next contract
Kaprizov signed for 8 years and 136 million, and that contract did more than lock up Minnesota's star. It gave every top-end young scorer a fresh number to point at.
Bedard's camp now has a clean argument. He already drives Chicago's offense, sells the team, and plays huge minutes at 20:52 a night.
Blashill's role matters here too. The Blackhawks hired him in May to guide the next stage of this build, and that stage only works if Bedard stays locked in as the centerpiece.
That does not mean Chicago should fold on the first big ask. A long deal at a lower AAV or a shorter bridge with a heavier cap hit are both real paths when a team and player are still feeling out the ceiling.
But the message from this report is simple. Connor Bedard's next contract is not being framed like a normal young-star extension. It is already being pushed into the same money neighborhood as the league's biggest forwards.
And once that kind of number hits the air, it gets harder to walk the conversation back. Chicago may not be there today, but the Bedard camp clearly wants the Blackhawks thinking at the very top of the market.
Should the Blackhawks pay Connor Bedard close to $17 million a year?
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