On a Macklin Celebrini extension and pending RFA Connor Bedard
NHL Media: David Pagnotta, on NHL Network, when asked about the contract situations for San Jose Sharks Macklin Celebrini, who is extension eligible, and Chicago Blackhawks Connor Bedard, who is a pending RFA.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Erika Watcher: “Macklin Celebrini, he’s following up that incredible year two, and now he’s leading Canada at the men’s World Championships. Any early rumblings on what you think an extension could look like for him?”
Pagnotta: “Yeah, he’s eligible to sign an extension July one. And yeah, there’s definitely going to be a lot of eyes on him and some of the other pending restricted free agents that you guys had listed earlier that are due for contracts.
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He still has another year, so there’s no immediate rush, but they are going to be monitoring the situation. I think one of the guys they’re going to be looking at as a potential comparison is Connor Bedard, and what happens with his contract in Chicago.
There’s no question Celebrini has MVP hopes down the road. He’s going to be at the top of a lot of those ranks and a lot of the votes moving forward.
But one of the guys that they’re going to take a look at is Connor Bedard. Those conversations have resumed, they have started on an extension talks with Chicago involving his next deal.
It looks like this might, there’s a little bit of a gap in the sounds of things initially on the dollars. Which is normal, they’re still in the very early stages. But if this goes full term, you’re going to expect to see some pretty significant numbers here in 15 and up million per season on a guy like Connor Bedard.
If this goes shorter, and I think this might, probably get to the last year of his RFA status. So three, four-year type of contract, probably in that $12 million range, might be that sweet spot. Think Chicago’s hovering a little closer to 10 at the moment, but very early on in the negotiation process.
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There’s no need to worry, by the way, no panic. Both sides know this is going to happen. This is just very early on in the stages, and you got to play the negotiation game every once in a while.”
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