For years now, insiders and reporters around the National Hockey League have been promising crazy summers that potentially change the landscape of the sport, but usually, fans are disappointed.
2026 has been the exact opposite, with this off-season already providing everything a fan could want, with shocking trades, an unpredictable draft, a busy free agency period, and all of it was capped off with the first offer sheet we’ve seen in several years. Nobody quite saw five-years, $18 million AAV coming for Leo Carlsson, but the Philadelphia Flyers stepped up to the plate, and now, many have wondered if former No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks could be next.
Connor Bedard Will not be Getting Offer Sheeted
GettyConnor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks.
The current max contract for an NHL player is $20.8 million, and while that would be a massive offer sheet for a team to give out, from the moment Carlsson signed his, plenty of fans and analysts looked straight towards Chicago to see if Connor Bedard would get that offer.
As of right now, there’s been very little movement on that front, and on Monday on the latest Oilers Now episode, NHL Insider Frank Seravalli was asked about the possibility, and unfortunately for neutral fans that have enjoyed the chaos, he shut down the idea of No. 98 getting an offer sheet.
“I don’t (think Bedard will get an offer sheet); no matter what it’s an easy match, Chicago’s a really hard team to offer sheet.”
Not only that, but Seravalli speculates that even if Bedard signed an offer sheet, the Blackhawks would match it, and as a result, it doesn’t appear as though any rival teams are showing too much interest in forcing Chicago’s hand.
Connor Bedard Looks to Solidify Himself as a top Star in the NHL
From the moment he arrived in the NHL, much has been expected of Bedard, and with very little talent around him in Chicago, he’s been off to a great start in his career, with a career best season in 2025/26 that saw him post 30 goals and 75 points in just 69 games played. While he did suffer an injury at a recent training session with the Blackhawks, Bedard has on the ice consistently for the Blackhawks, and as he adjusts to the physicality of the NHL, the 21-year-old has shown that he is going to keep getting better and better as his career goes on.
While he may not yet be worth $20 million a year, after the contract signed by Carlsson, the value of these young players continues to go up, and given what he brings both on and off the ice in Chicago, there’s no reason that he won’t be the first $20 million AAV player in the current NHL landscape. Ultimately though, that massive contract is not expected to come as a result of an offer sheet, but rather a simple extension with the Blackhawks, and given how quickly the salary cap has risen and how contracts around the league rise, it would be wise for them to get a deal done very, very soon.
Connor Bedard’s Immediate Future with the Blackhawks Revealed