Uh, he also won the Calder Trophy, of course, in his first year in the NHL.

So, uh, Mike, I'll ask you first, now that we know these talks are ongoing, what do you think is a reasonable AAV and term for Chicago to settle on with Bedard, especially considering, you know, the cap going up here?

The cap going up here?

Yeah, that's gonna be a big consideration, because we saw with some players coming off their entry-level contracts, uh, most notably JJ Peterka of the Buffalo Sabres and Matthew Knies of the Toronto Maple Leafs, um, there was a battle with their respective teams on the length of the contract.

And in the case of Peterka, it ended up getting him shipped off to Utah because I think the Sabres only wanted to sign him to a bridge deal.

Matthew Knies signed a six-year deal.

I think that battle is gonna go on between Kyle Davidson and the representatives for Connor Bedard.

Now, he's a former first overall pick and a Calder Trophy winner, so he's at a higher level.

I am sure the Blackhawks want to get him locked up for eight years.

I am sure that the agent is saying, uh, maybe not.

So, uh, in the end, I think they'll probably compromise on contract length.

I mean, he's 19 years old, so if they go five or six years, it would make him an unrestricted free agent at 25.

I think the Blackhawks could live with six years, but they're gonna want eight.

And the and the AAV, I'm sorry, I would say $10 to $11 million a year.

Yeah, that's kind of my range.

Yeah, I was gonna ask Steven, what do you think?

Cause again, you know, we're seeing this a lot around the league with GMs trying to go for the longer term, but then the agents pushing back and wanting the shorter term with the higher AAV, knowing that the cap is going up.

So Steven, sounds like you're in agreement there.

Yeah, I am, and I, you know, Kyle Davidson did point this out when he met with the media that, you know, with the new CBA taking effect in 2026-27 and, you know, he, of course, talks around the salary cap thing by saying, you know, the cap is gonna be going up, so it's kind of hard to arrive at a figure right now, but yeah, I was, I was thinking 9 to 11, uh, you know, the AAV.

I, I mean, I think, you know, Bedard is, he's made it clear he's saying all the right things.

Yeah, he wants to be here long term, you know, that sort of thing.

And he's entering the last year of his entry level contract, but I don't think it's something I, I don't think you can expect a deal to get done tomorrow, even next week.

This is gonna go on for a while, and I, I just, you know, for me, the most interesting question, especially if I'm Connor Bedard, is, so who are you going to surround me with that's going to get us back in the playoffs?

You know, they've got some young guys like Nazar, Oliver Moore, Sam, you know, Renzo and, uh, I can always forget.

Muchingoff, yeah, that's it.

But, you know, in trading for Sam Lafferty, but you know, they've got to start making some big splashes pretty soon, I think.