Connor Bedard isn’t yet sure what shape he’ll be in physically when Chicago Blackhawks training camp opens this fall — but he knows exactly what the team is chasing.
Just days after putting pen to paper on a five-year, $75 million contract extension, the young forward made his first public remarks to reporters Monday, and his message was straightforward.
“We want to take a big step this year. We want to be a playoff team and that’s our only goal,” Bedard said.
Bedard, who just celebrated his 21st birthday on Friday, was selected first overall in the 2023 NHL Draft and went on to claim the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s top rookie the following season. He has been widely regarded as the most highly anticipated prospect to enter the NHL since Connor McDavid.
Over his three seasons in Chicago, Bedard has steadily improved, reaching personal bests last year with 30 goals, 45 assists, and 75 points across 69 games in the 2025-26 season. Despite that individual growth, the Blackhawks have yet to post a winning record during his tenure — though the team has climbed from 52 points in his first year to 61 the following season, and 72 points most recently.
The franchise has now missed the playoffs for six consecutive years, a drought that stretches back to the final days of Patrick Kane’s time with the team. But Bedard is encouraged by the moves Chicago made this offseason, particularly the trade for Colorado Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram.
“We’ve had a great, great summer,” Bedard said. “Obviously getting Bo, he’s someone who’s going to be one of the best D-men in the league. He’s always shown that, but when you play behind Cale (Makar) and (Rasmus) Dahlin (with the Sabres), it’s not easy to take their spots, so just for him to have that opportunity to be that one and prove himself in that way and he’s going to do it. He’s one of the most skilled players in the league.”
Bedard also highlighted the arrivals of veteran forward Jordan Greenway and defenseman Ian Cole as meaningful additions to the roster.
Still, the move that could generate the most buzz in Chicago would be a return by Kane himself. The Blackhawks dealt Kane to the New York Rangers late in the 2022-23 season, after which he spent three years with the rival Detroit Red Wings. Now 37, Kane remains the highest-scoring American-born player in NHL history and is still available as a free agent.
Bedard made no secret of how much a Kane reunion would mean to him and the organization.
“I don’t know what I can say to persuade his decision, but we’d all be so excited to have a player like that but also a guy like that,” Bedard said. “I can’t imagine his first game back at (Chicago), just the reaction he’d get and how much juice that would bring not only to our team but our fans as well. That would be incredible to get to play with him and learn from him.”
Kane had surgery on his left shoulder on July 8 and was given a four-month recovery timeline, which would put him back on the ice around early November. The NHL’s regular season is set to begin in late September this year — earlier than usual due to the expansion to an 84-game schedule.
Kane left the door open to returning ahead of that four-month estimate.
“We’ll see,” he said. “… I’m just going to do everything I can day-to-day to try to get back as quick as possible.”
