- Roman Kantserov calls Patrick Kane’s return to Chicago the silver lining of Connor Bedard’s injury
- The 21-year-old led the KHL with 36 goals before signing his entry-level deal in May
- Read below for what Kantserov texted Bedard and where he fits in Chicago’s top six
Roman Kantserov is going to start his NHL career without Connor Bedard. Then Chicago went out and signed Patrick Kane.
The 21-year-old winger was asked at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase how he felt about opening the season while Bedard recovers from July shoulder surgery, and he did not need much prompting.
“Right now, Connor has the injury. It’s sad news. But Chicago signed Patrick Kane. The legend has come back. It’s awesome.”
Kantserov spent a couple of days in Chicago last week for the showcase, his first public appearance in a Blackhawks sweater. Fellow prospect Sacha Boisvert made the trip too.
Kane and Kantserov haven’t actually met yet. Bedard did get a text, and it was six words long: “Faster recovery. We need you.”
Asked what a season next to Kane could look like, Kantserov went straight to the résumé, per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times.
“He’s the greatest American player, all-time scorer, and this is a very good opportunity to play with him. Of course, if we play together with Bedard, maybe we can find the chemistry.”
General manager Kyle Davidson penciled Kantserov onto Bedard’s wing back in June, as NHL.com’s Tracey Myers detailed, and Bedard missing the first month has not changed that.
Our projected 2026-27 lineup slots him one rung lower, on the right side with Anton Frondell and Tyler Bertuzzi, while Kane takes the top-line wing next to Frank Nazar and Bedard.
Those expectations come from the numbers. Kantserov led the KHL with 36 goals in 63 games for Metallurg Magnitogorsk last season and added 28 assists for a career-high 64 points.
Chicago took him 44th overall in 2023. He terminated his KHL contract in May and signed a three-year entry-level deal worth $1.075 million per season.
Size is the obvious question. He is listed at 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds, and that second number drew some raised eyebrows the moment he walked into the showcase:
English was the other project. Kantserov has been living in Stamford, Connecticut since late June, training with a group of Russians and Rangers, and he swapped the Russian subtitles on his old Transformers and Spider-Man movies for English audio.
Spencer Knight, a Connecticut native, has had him over for dinner a few times and sold him on the city.
Nobody is pretending the jump from the KHL is small, least of all Kantserov, who was blunt about the work in front of him.
“I need to improve my skills, improve my thinking. I need to think smarter and faster, because here is [an] absolutely different level. It should be hard, but it’s not impossible. I think I can do this.”
