What comes next for Connor Bedard’s Blackhawks contract after Leo Carlsson’s $18 million offer sheet from Flyers originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Connor Bedard and Leo Carlsson are in a bit of the same boat.
Both are restricted free agents. And for the Anaheim Ducks‘ youngster Carlsson, that just earned him an $18 million per year offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Now, all eyes are on Bedard.
He’s generally considered a better player than Carlsson. Could an even higher salary offer be coming from somewhere?
Carlsson accepted that offer from the Flyers, which gives the Ducks a week to match. But in either scenario, he’ll be making $18 million per year.
What happens next for Bedard?
The Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope spelled some things out in a new article on Friday after the Carlsson news.
Pope doesn’t think there’s any major reason to worry.
“There are many reasons not to worry. First, Bedard has repeatedly indicated that he plans to spend a long time with the Hawks and believes in the franchise’s plan,” Pope writes. “Second, he and Hawks GM Kyle Davidson communicate frequently, including during Davidson’s controversial acquisition of Bowen Byram — a friend of Bedard’s — last week. Third, Bedard dislikes drama. Fourth, Bedard might have a bigger immediate concern in the form of his injury. And fifth, if the Flyers approached Bedard before approaching Carlsson, which seems plausible, clearly nothing came to fruition there.”
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Pope does acknowledge that until Bedard has his next contract inked with Chicago, “nothing can be ruled out.”
Carlsson has, one way or the other, re-set the market.
Bedard is likely up next in some form. Is someone looming to offer Bedard $20 million per year? We might find out soon enough.
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