B/R Open Ice: Frank Seravalli, when asked if there should be concern for Chicago Blackhawks fans if he wants to sign a five-year deal instead of an eight-year deal.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“First off, no, not concerning. Were Toronto Maple Leaf fans concerned when Auston Matthews signed a five-year deal out of the shoot of his entry-level deal? No.
Two. I think it also depends, Nathan, on when Connor Bedard signs his deal. If he waits until after July 1st, which obviously there’s plenty of time between now and then. But if he waits until after July 1, the most years that he could sign for anyway, ratchets down to seven, as per the collective bargaining agreement changes. So it does change the spectre of that slightly. An eight-year deal would need to get done before the calendar turns to July 1st.
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And more than that, I just think the salary cap environment is changing. I don’t think there’s anything that’s been decided in terms of term or dollars. When it comes to Connor Bedard, there have been a couple nice additional price points that have been set, that I think are huge. Getting that Logan Cooley deal done, also the third largest contract ever signed out of entry-level, is another really important data point.
When you consider where Conor Bedard is at in his career, maybe the only other interesting data point would be as if they waited again until After July 1st and Macklin Celebrini signs his next contract first. But short of that, I think the Hawks and the Bedard camp have pretty much all the data that they would need to get a deal done.
But neither side is really in a rush to do that. And I don’t think it should be viewed in any sort of negative light. They’re just taking their time. He’s playing on the entry-level deal. There’s no reason to rush, and so they’re going to sift through and see where things stand.
The two sides have remained in communication. It’s not like they’ve put it on ice and said, ‘Hey, we’re waiting until after the season’s over.’ But as far as I know, and I did check in on this file over the last couple of days, they haven’t had any substantive talks of late.
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