Term will play a big role in the money that Connor Bedard will get on a contract extension
Daily Faceoff: David Pagnotta, on the Chicago Blackhawks and pending RFA forward Connor Bedard‘s agents have been going back and forth, looking at different term and money. Bedard’s deal will have an impact on the contracts of a few other players as well, if it gets done first.
Irf Gaffar: “I’ve heard that they’ve had talks back and forth. Bedard camp maybe hasn’t liked what the Chicago camp has put in front of him to start, but this is a negotiation, and it will happen here at some point.
What do you make of the situation happening in Chicago with the Bedard? Actually, I don’t even want to call it a situation, because it’s not – they’re gonna get it done. What do you make of this? What do you make of the talks here happening?
Pagnotta: “Yeah, the negotiations are ongoing, they’re going back and forth. Nothing is negative, really. It’s just as you said, this is a negotiation. Different variations, different options are being discussed back and forth. Going full term, going to take him to the end of his RFA status, right before that final year before he can get to UFA, so he’s still controllable.
And the numbers will dictate kind of, the dollars, rather, will dictate what those terms are going to be, or I guess vice versa. You know, you’re hearing $14 million AAV, hearing $15 (million), $16 (million), depends on what the term is.
And with the cap going up, we’re at $104 (million) for next season. I think a lot of people are going to have to come to the realization that the salaries in the NHL across the board are going to get higher. (Timothy) Liljegren’s $3.25 million cap hit with Washington, a lot of people were like, “Whoa, that’s might be a lot for him.’ Well, not really. That’s, that’s going rate. And that was actually a pretty good deal for both sides to get that one done.
So, with the way the market is shifting, yeah, Bedard’s contract is going to affect others as well. It’s going to affect Macklin Celebrini at some point. It’s going to affect Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier right now, as they’re looking for new deals in Anaheim. Like, all of these are going to kind of be connected a little bit.
But with Bedard specifically, it’s either full-term or you’re going shorter-term, so you keep that RFA status, and that term will dictate, you know, what those dollars really are going to be Irf. But it doesn’t sound like there’s anybody panicking; it’s just a negotiation. They got to go through it.”
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