I see journalist Jordan Manning on his site "NHL Trade Talk" is predicting that the Hawks could have a real tough time re-signing Connor Bedard, whose frustration is starting to boil over.
He points out that despite all the brave talk in Chicago about their prospect pool and the number of picks they've stockpiled--there's still nobody in the queue who's really going to change the Hawks outlook much over the next two or three seasons.
It is possible to turn a franchise around relatively fast, with the right trades, UFA signings, and 'hitting' on some of your high picks. But there's not much indication that is actually transpiring in Chicago.
If the losses continue to pile up--I could actually see Bedard and his agent issuing an ultimatum once his ELC is up. And a trade demand isn't out of the question. It's happened before with young players, who have a burning desire to 'win now'.
In fact when you look at Bedard's career, the one thing that stands out is that he's been on teams that have done a lot of 'losing'. The Regina Pats teams he played on really weren't very good. And of course two long years in Chicago.
Obviously it would be far too prohibitive for an NHL team to sign Bedard to an 'offer sheet'. But I'd be very surprised if a GM like Allvin isn't monitoring the situation closely.
