9:08 a.m.: Chicago has now made the deal official, confirming the maximum cap hit of $950K for Bedard on his three-year ELC. CapFriendly provides the full breakdown of the deal, which carries the same structure in all three seasons: an NHL salary of $855K, a $95K signing bonus, a Schedule ’A’ performance bonus worth $1MM, and a Schedule ’B’ performance bonus worth $2.5MM.
8:09 a.m.: 2023 first-overall pick Connor Bedard has agreed to terms with the Chicago Blackhawks on his three-year entry-level contract today, The Athletic’s Scott Powers reports.
The surely multi-million dollar commitment from Chicago to Bedard on his 18th birthday is quite the present. Signing Bedard to his ELC officially paves the way for him to suit up in a Blackhawks uniform on opening night in a few months, as expected.
Labeled the best prospect since Connor McDavid in 2015 and Auston Matthews in 2016, Bedard will look to make a splash with the Blackhawks next season after dominating the WHL with the Regina Pats, notching 71 goals and 72 assists for 143 points in just 57 games. His 2.51 points per game tied him for the highest rate in a single season for a 17-year-old with former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Rob Brown, who had 173 points in 69 games with Kamloops in 1985-86.
With that in mind, Bedard is expected to assume a first-line center role in the Windy City out of the gate, a glimpse into the team’s long-term future after an aggressive roster restructuring. The Blackhawks made multiple roster moves this offseason with Bedard in mind, acquiring a former Hart Trophy winner in Taylor Hall and retaining some skill for the top-six in Andreas Athanasiou to give Bedard at least some talent to play with in a Chicago forward group devoid of much to write home about.
Bedard’s six-figure cap hit could be the biggest bargain bin deal in the league by its conclusion in 2025-26, at which point he’ll be able to sign quite a lucrative second deal with the salary cap expected to rise north of $92MM by that point.
Among U-25 forwards in Chicago’s top-six next season, he’ll likely be joined by 2020 17th overall pick Lukas Reichel, who’s coming off a pair of excellent campaigns in the minors with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs and added 15 points in 23 games with the Blackhawks last year. Those two are the shining stars at forward of a prospect pool that’s quickly grown into one of the league’s best, including a pair of top-20 picks in Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore still to come.
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Wonder what type of car he will be driving once the governments take their share of taxes out of his bonus. Maybe a nice used truck?
Time is ticking now for GM Davidson. In the last year of Bedard’s ELC the Hawks should be competing for the Cup. Once Bedard signs his multi zillion dollar deal, there might be not be enough money left for capable supporting cast to have a chance to win it all.
The most a single player can sign for is 20% of the cap so lots of room to fill out a capable roster. Teams get in cap trouble when they have 3-4 players taking up too much of that cap room.
Well, maximum salary for this season is $16.7M. How does this leave “lots” of room to fill a capable roster when there only has been a single player ever to win a Cup with a salary of more than $10M?
Never heard of this guy…
I think Bedard will still a lot of new vehicle options to pick from even after taxes. He’s also in a very big media market.
bedard could end up being the best player from this draft