- Every year of Bedard’s new deal pays a $9.8 million signing bonus, matching his No. 98
- The base salary drops from $7.2 million in year one to $3.2 million in year five
- Read below for the full contract structure and what the numbers add up to
Connor Bedard’s new Blackhawks contract has a fun wrinkle buried in the fine print.
Every season of the five-year extension pays him a $9.8 million signing bonus, a number that lines up with the No. 98 he wears in Chicago.
PuckPedia laid out the full structure Saturday. Here’s the year-by-year breakdown:
The base salary slides down each year, starting at $7.2 million and finishing at $3.2 million. The signing bonus never moves off $9.8 million. Add up those bonuses and Bedard collects $49 million of his $75 million in signing-bonus money alone, most of it paid up front and protected against any work stoppage.
The deal carries a $15 million cap hit and keeps him in Chicago through 2030-31. He put pen to paper Saturday, one day after his 21st birthday.
There’s full no-movement protection in the final season, and the contract buys out one year that would have been unrestricted free agency. Bedard was a restricted free agent when the two sides closed it out.
Chicago didn’t wait long to celebrate locking up its franchise center:
Bedard has piled up 203 points in 219 games across three seasons and won the Calder Trophy in 2024. He’ll miss the start of this season while he recovers from left shoulder surgery. Once he’s back, the Blackhawks have their No. 1 center signed through 2031, right down to the jersey number on the paycheck.
