I am sure. There has been an exodus of high end talent wanting to escape a team that has stalled ...regardless if it's in RFA stage or UFA stage it's discontent they don't want brewing. It brews from early stages. This is 100% a play to keep Bedard by improving their team now and not in 3-4 years from now.
Yeah but I would say there's a very strong case to be made that it's high time for Chicago to start doing that anyway. They've had quite enough years loading up on picks and kids, of whom Bedard is obviously one. Time to get moving on doing the harder yards to turn all that potential into a contender. For sure you want to keep your star happy, I just think the bigger narrative is more important - they should be doing this regardless of what one player may or may not think.
Which is fine. End of the day it goes back to the crux of the issue - was Byram the right guy to invest in to that extent? I'm not convinced, but points at least for taking the plunge and we'll see what happens.
