- Connor Bedard is targeting around $17 million per season on his next Blackhawks contract
- That would match Kirill Kaprizov’s league-high cap hit with the Wild
- Read below for where the Chicago talks actually stand
Connor Bedard has a number in mind, and it is a big one.
The Blackhawks center is looking for a contract worth around $17 million per season, the same annual figure Kirill Kaprizov is making in Minnesota. That word comes from Daily Faceoff’s Irfaan Gaffar, who laid it out on the DFO Rundown Insider Edition alongside David Pagnotta.
Gaffar was breaking down where the young stars land now that Leo Carlsson’s offer sheet has reset the market.
“Connor Bedard is in for a payday. He saw Bowen Byram get a payday. I think that Connor Bedard is looking at Kirill Kaprizov money,” Gaffar said. “I think that is a situation and that is a number that he’s looking at, and I do strongly believe that he thinks he deserves it. I’m not entirely sure the Chicago Blackhawks as an organization are close to that number when discussing Connor Bedard right now.”
Watch Gaffar break down the Bedard situation:
The Byram deal is what got people doing the math. Chicago handed the defenseman a six-year, $75 million contract after acquiring him this offseason, and that raised the obvious question of how high Bedard would climb.
Kaprizov is the ceiling Bedard’s camp is pointing at. The Wild star signed an eight-year, $136 million extension that carries a $17 million cap hit, the richest in the league. Carlsson’s five-year, $90 million offer sheet, worth $18 million a year, only adds to the argument.
There is a gap to close first. Chicago is believed to have opened talks closer to the $10-12 million range, which won’t get a deal done. Carlsson’s offer sheet had already pushed Bedard’s price higher earlier this week.
Bedard’s entry-level deal expired at the end of June, and he turns 21 on July 17. He is not coming off eye-popping counting numbers, with 30 goals and 45 assists for 75 points in 69 games last season, but he believes his ceiling backs up the ask.
The Blackhawks have close to $30 million in cap space, so paying Bedard was never going to be the problem. Agreeing on the number is.
