Matt Johnson
The Philadelphia Flyers tendering a five-year, $90 million offer sheet to the Anaheim Ducks‘ Leo Carlsson was expected to have a massive ripple effect on the future contracts for some of the NHL’s top stars. With Chicago Blackhawks‘ center Connor Bedard eligible for an extension, it appears we know what the price tag might be to sign him.
According to TheFourthPeriod‘s Irfaan Gaffar, Bedard is seeking an extension worth around $17 million per season, in the range of what Kirill Kaprizov signed with the Minnesota Wild.
- Connor Bedard stats (2025-26): 75 points (45 assists, 30 goals), 5 game-winning goals, 20:52 TOI/G, 315 faceoffs won, 47.1% face-off percentage, 27 blocks, 31 hits
“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. 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.”
Irfaan Gaffar on the potential cost of a Connor Bedard contract extension
As of now, only four players (Kaprizov, Leon Draisaitl, Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel) are signed to deals with cap hits of $13-plus million per season. Carlsson, at just 21 years old, is poised to become the fifth once the Ducks decide to match the offer sheet or decline it.
The offer sheet Carlsson signed will obviously have a ripple effect on ascending, young players who are either already eligible for an extension or will be eligible within the next year.
There’s also at least an outside shot that Philadelphia’s decision to submit an offer sheet compels other clubs to submit lucrative offer sheets to certain restricted free agents. To that point, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that Carlsson had offer sheets presented to him from four teams and several others shared a “high level of interest” in the young center.
- Connor Bedard contract (PuckPedia): $4.45 million AAV (2025-26), 2026 restricted free agent
The Blackhawks currently have $29.31 million in cap space right now, per PuckPedia, so they are in no danger of being unable to match an offer sheet made to Bedard. To that point, Chicago would even have enough if Bedard was offered the maximum AAV (20 percent of the league’s salary cap).
Given what the Ducks are going through right now with Carlsson, there’s plenty of incentive for the Blackhawks to accelerate extension talks with Bedard. The two sides have already been negotiating and Carlsson’s deal strengthens the asking price reportedly set by Bedard’s reps.
No deal is imminent, but it’s pretty clear that Bedard is headed for a long-term deal that will make him one of the highest-paid NHL players moving forward and it will greatly exceed initial contract projections. Once his deal is signed, all eyes will turn towards the San Jose Sharks and whether or not they extend Macklin Celebrini this summer.
