One of the most important matters of business that Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson, who recently received a multi-year contract extension, will have to take care of in the coming weeks is a new contract extension for former first overall draft selection Connor Bedard.
Taken first overall in the 2023 NHL Draft after the club won the Draft Lottery, Bedard has become the face of the rebuilding franchise that hopes to once again enter Stanley Cup contention after a downswing. And while it’s been a bit of a slower process, the Blackhawks’ management team is confident that they’ll once again be tasting the fruits of playoff success with Bedard at the helm.
But as far as the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which concluded on Sunday evening with the Carolina Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup, are concerned, what are Bedard’s feelings?
Chicago Blackhawks Forward Connor Bedard Reveals Why He Is “Pissed Off”
Bedard, who will be entering his fourth NHL season, badly wants to get the Blackhawks over the hump and back into Stanley Cup Playoff contention. However, he knows that there is still a journey to complete beforehand.
While training near his home in Vancouver, Bedard admitted that he hasn’t watched much postseason hockey, knowing that he and the Blackhawks have yet to experience that kind of competition so far in his career.
“I think the whole playoffs, honestly, I haven’t really watched a crazy amount,” he said. “It kind of pisses me off. […] I think just, obviously, how intense the games are, but also kind of, you just got to get in.”
Knowing that any team has the chance to win a postseason series, Bedard knows that all it takes is getting in.
“You see some teams that won [a] series where they probably shouldn’t have, and uh, it’s about getting in and anything, anything can really happen,” he said.
Bedard is eligible to become a restricted free agent once the calendar flips to July 1, though the Blackhawks would like to get a deal done with him before then.
It Will Be Up To The Blackhawks Players To Step Up
According to Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz, it’s up to the players to step up their respective games in order to get Chicago back into the kind of title contention they enjoyed during the days of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, and several others.
“These players in their own development have to take another step,” Wirtz said. “Even Connor needs to take another step and he will. He’s that competitive, but across the board, those are the things (we need). The collective improvement each of those players makes translates into team competitiveness and ultimately wins. That’s what we’re going for.
“Our intention is to be competing and winning Stanley Cups but we can’t race to that conclusion until we do all those right things. I feel really good with our pipeline, I feel really good with our prospects but prospects turning into real players as we’ve seen this year is going to be continuing the trend.”
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