CHICAGO -- Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks have begun negotiations for his next contract, general manager Kyle Davidson said Tuesday.
“I probably don’t want to get too far into it, but we are talking,” Davidson said. “So, I think that’s an indicator of an openness to discuss.
“He made his thoughts very clear at the end of the season and subsequently in other interviews, that he’s committed to Chicago and wants to be here long-term and we obviously want him here long-term, so there’s mutual agreement there.”
Bedard, the No. 1 pick at the 2023 NHL Draft, became eligible to sign his next contract Tuesday. The 19-year-old center is entering the last of the three-year, $2.85 million entry-level contract ($950,000 average annual value) he signed on his 18th birthday -- July 17, 2023.
He has led the Blackhawks in points each of his first two seasons, including having 67 points (23 goals, 44 assists) in 82 games in 2024-25. He won the Calder Trophy as the League’s top rookie in 2023-24 when he had 61 points (22 goals, 39 assists) in 68 games.
“We’ll see, but if we’re able to get something done (soon), that would be fantastic,” Davidson said. “But if we don’t, I think it’s probably more so out of the uncertainty around how the League and the system is going to be growing or impacted moving forward than anything player/team related.”
The NHL and NHL Players’ Association agreed to a four-year extension of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which will begin prior to the 2026-27 season and run through 2029-30. The salary cap upper limit is increasing $7.5 million for this season, $8.5 million in 2026-27 and $9.5 million in 2027-28.
“I think the new salary cap marketplace, it’s going to stall some (contract talks),” Davidson said. “It's going to make some of these a little more drawn out that maybe they would have been in the past on a more flat cap. But yeah, we've started (talking) and we'll see if something gets done.
“Again, it's kind of a new world that we've walked into this summer with the cap and where it's going, and the new CBA. Lots of unanswered questions, I think, still, just systematically within the NHL that we're trying to navigate. These things are difficult to get done at the best of times, but then when you toss in a little uncertainty with how some of these structure rules, anything like that, how that can impact things, I think it'll delay things a little bit.”
Bedard addressed rumors at the end of the season that he wasn’t happy playing for Chicago, which went 25-46-11 and finished last in the Central Division for a second straight year.
“I’m a pretty mild-mannered guy and if I looked a little sad on the bench or something, maybe people can take it out of context,” Bedard said on April 17. “I’ve said it so many times, I love being here and the city, the people.
“If you get the first overall pick (in the NHL Draft), you’re probably not winning the (Stanley) Cup the next two years; it's an understanding of where you’re at. You’re going out there to win every game but at the end, you know we’re in a process of growing and learning, and that’s an exciting time. When you lose, it makes winning a lot sweeter once you get there. So, we’re excited for that.”
Chicago was quiet on the first day of free agency Tuesday, but it did acquire forward Sam Lafferty from the Buffalo Sabres for a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Davidson said the Blackhawks will continue to “explore depth options” through the offseason.
They are optimistic about their pipeline, be it forwards such as Frank Nazar, 21, and Oliver Moore, 20, or defensemen Sam Rinzel, 20, and Artyom Levshunov, 19. Levshunov, the No. 2 pick at the 2024 NHL Draft, had six assists and averaged 20:19 of ice time in 18 games last season. Nazar had 26 points (12 goals, 14 assists) in 53 games.
“Even before I got drafted, I was embraced as one of (Chicago’s) own, so it’s a special sports town and we have a lot of great players coming up, great people,” Bedard said in April. “Anything can get said. I don’t really look at that, don’t really see a lot of that unless someone shows me.
“But I just think people who know me know I love to be here and really trust the direction we’re going.”
