Chicago Blackhawks coverage — game analysis, trade rumors, prospect reports, and more.
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Kane made $3 million last season and just got $8 million a year at 37. New Jersey paid a younger, higher-scoring winger $4.75 million eight days earlier. Chicago was the only bidder that was never buying a hockey player.
The $75 million headline hides the real move. Bedard took five years instead of eight, and on a climbing cap that turns his $15M hit into a shrinking share and a second swing at the market at 26.
Bedard's camp wants Kaprizov money. Chicago's offering Byram money to its franchise center. One of those numbers is out of step with where the market actually moved this summer.
A four-month timeline is survivable for a rebuild. A pattern of a franchise cornerstone who keeps ending up on the shelf is the part Chicago can't wave off, especially with his contract still unsigned.
Bowen Byram is good. That was never the question. The question is why a team that finished last in the Central traded the No. 4 pick for two years of a player who can leave before it's ready to win.
