The Blackhawks spent the 2026-27 offseason making two moves that instantly put them under the microscope: a six-year extension for Bowen Byram and a five-year deal for Connor Bedard. Bleacher Report’s Adam Gertz took on both contracts in his grading of 34 long-term NHL deals signed this summer, and his verdict came with some split feelings. He was more comfortable with Bedard’s extension, while Byram’s deal left him with real questions.
Byram’s contract is the one that raised eyebrows first. Chicago acquired him and then locked him in on a six-year, $75 million extension, a deal that carries a $12.5 million AAV. That figure puts him ahead of what Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane ever reached on an annual basis, though the cap environment is obviously different now than it was when those contracts were signed.
The bigger issue is whether Byram is the kind of player who can justify that kind of money. The 25-year-old was the fourth overall pick in the 2019 Draft and reached the NHL within a year with Colorado.
His early role with the Avalanche was limited, but he flashed big-time impact during the 2022 Stanley Cup run, when he led the NHL playoffs with a plus-15 rating. That helped open the door for a larger workload in 2022-23, when he played 42 games, and then 55 the next season before being traded to Buffalo.
His best season came last year with the Sabres, when he set a career high in points and helped Buffalo win the Atlantic Division and reach the Eastern Conference Final. Now he’s in Chicago, where the assignment is very different: a rebuilding team, a massive salary, and expectations that will be higher than anything he’s dealt with so far.
Gertz’s C+ reflects that uncertainty. The logic is simple enough - nobody knows whether this investment pays off until the next seven seasons play out.
Bedard’s deal came with a different kind of pressure. After San Jose signed Macklin Celebrini to what was, for a month, the largest deal in NHL history until Cale Makar’s extension passed it, Chicago was pushed right back into the spotlight and had to get its own franchise centerpiece done. Bedard’s five-year, $75 million extension gives him a $15 million AAV, the highest in Blackhawks history.
The 21-year-old still hasn’t reached 100 points in a regular season, but he’s already operating at close to a point-per-game pace, and Chicago has been noticeably better when he’s in the lineup. Injuries have kept him from fully showing what he can become, and the roster around him is still young and trying to find its footing. That’s part of why the Blackhawks remain near the bottom of the standings, even if the long view still points toward a team that could contend again.
Gertz gave the Bedard contract a B+, and the number comes with a little hesitation because of the health question. Still, the upside is obvious.
If Bedard comes back from shoulder surgery, catches fire, and keeps scoring at a 100-point level through the next five years as he moves into his prime, Chicago could end up with one of the league’s best bargains. And if that happens, he’ll be in line for an even bigger payday in 2031.
In Other News...
Connor Bedard's Return Brings One Big Blackhawks Question
Connor Bedard was back on the ice at the Blackhawks Ice Center, skating on his own and taking light shots about two months after undergoing left shoulder surgery. The recovery comes after the July 8 procedure, which followed an injury during an offseason skate, and the original timetable pointed to roughly four months before he would be fully back in the mix.
For Chicago, the sight of Bedard moving around again is encouraging, especially with training camp approaching, but it also leaves the most important question hanging. The Blackhawks have not offered an official update on whether he has been cleared for camp work or contact, and until that changes, his exact status remains the thing everyone around the team is waiting to hear. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Face An Early Lineup Gamble With Bedard Out
Connor Bedards absence for roughly the first month of the season is forcing the Blackhawks to sort through their center depth earlier than planned, and it has opened the door to some unusual looks in camp. With a key spot suddenly available, Chicago is examining different ways to hold things together down the middle while waiting for its star to return.
One of the more intriguing options is Roman Kantserov, who has built his reputation as a goal-scoring winger but is going to get some time at center anyway. The Blackhawks want to see during training camp and the preseason whether that experiment has enough bite to matter, because the answer could shape where he lines up once Bedard is back and the roster settles into something closer to its normal look. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Fans May Not Realize Whats Left Of That 2020 Team
The Blackhawks last trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs came in 2020, when they were bounced by the Vegas Golden Knights, and the roster from that run is already feeling like a different era. A number of the skaters from that lineup have moved on from the game entirely, while others are still out in the league wearing different sweaters or sitting in free agency, a reminder of how quickly a core can disappear once a team falls out of contention.
Patrick Kane is back in the NHL now with the Detroit Red Wings, keeping one familiar name in circulation for anyone who remembers those Blackhawks years. But the list of holdovers keeps shrinking, and the names that once defined Chicagos most recent playoff team are increasingly the ones fans are asked to remember rather than the ones still shaping the present. [Read more 🡒]