The Carolina Hurricanes Can End Up With Connor Bedard, Easily!
By Chris Baker
In a magical world of unicorns, solid gold toilet seats, and big rock candy mountains, the Carolina Hurricanes could get Connor Bedard. Easily! Or as easily as a conjured scenario can make it.
I have at least thought seriously to see what it might take for the Chicago Blackhawks to move on to Bedard. I considered what they could reasonably ask, and what teams might reasonably offer to match. But, this is likely as real as a magical world of cheeseburger-delivering gnomes with milkshake dispensers on their backs.
You can come after me in the comments. Attack me on Twitter. It only shows you DIDN’T read this article.
First off, if I were Chicago I would make two different offers. If anyone wanted to meet either of those offers we could sit down. Have those gnome delivered cheeseburgers and milkshakes. Talk it out. See what happens.
“Offer One”
30 goal scorer from last season x 2 (preferably NHL but AHL is possible)
1st round draft picks x 2 years
2nd round draft pick x 3 years after the 2 years.
“Offer Two”
50+ goal scorer from last two season x1 (NHL only)
1st round draft pick x 3 years
2nd round draft pick x 3 years after the 3 years
Connor Bedard is a future making prospect. If Chicago were to think about giving him up, they would need to save face by securing future picks. Thus, I added the picks to both offers. You would not want to broker away your future for nothing, and I think the 2nd round picks are a guarantee. Down the road you will get some solid goal scorers, or maybe a goalie well into the future.
Although all indicators say elsewise, there is no guarantee Bedard will produce. He could be great, or he could buckle under the pressure. If I am Chicago, I want something to show for next season to cover him being great. If Bedard is in fact the second coming and the Blackhawks trading him means Bedard beats them in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, getting someone to carry you to Game 7 would be critical.
In a way Chicago needs a bird in the hand AND at least one in the bush before they place cheeseburger orders with the gnomes.
So, what teams out there could meet either of those offers?
Plenty of teams have the goal scorers to match the 30 goals from last season in “Offer One”. Plenty more have a 50+ scorer for two seasons from “Offer Two.”
But those are steep asking prices.
Edmonton certainly comes to mind first. They have goal scoring in droves. Four Oilers have 30+ goals this year in fact. But the Oilers moving anyone would really be moot. If not costly. Should they want to work around giving up two players for one, they could filter another player through on paper to grab Bedard. Likely that move would be as costly, if not more, than offering from their current stable.
Buffalo even has the ante on “Offer One” covered with Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Jeff Skinner AND Dylan Cozens. But Buffalo is another perfect example of being able to sit down at the table, but likely not interested in the game. They have a talented, young group of players that will develop together. The added bonus in Buffalo, they are all under long term deals.
Carolina would be in the same boat, which leads me to the second part of this article.
What could Carolina offer that would get them a seat at the fictitious table where Connor Bedard is being offered alongside cheeseburgers and milkshakes delivered by mythical creatures?
Off the top “Offer One” is off the table.
The way Carolina is built, there is only Sebastian Aho with 36 regular season goals this year. The Chicago Wolves have Vasily Ponomarev with 24, which is 6 short. And those are a big 6 when it is an AHL player you are offering.
Like Edmonton, they could filter a player through, but this would likely lead to more than just Sebastian Aho not being in the “(We like our) room” that Don Waddell, and Rod Brind’Amour have created.
And why go through the hassle of getting a second 30 goal scorer just to trade them, away? Unless you could just steal them and something else it makes no sense.
For “Offer Two” Carolina has Aho, and…..well…..Aho. Martin Necas would have 42 over two seasons, but that is because this year was excellent.
Aho and Necas are certainly older, and have fewer playing years left. Moving Aho or Necas, as we have well seen, is not a popular subject with Carolina Hurricanes fans, and would go against the overall mentality of the Carolina Hurricanes.
And there is the reality of paying Connor Bedard once you get him. Even with Aho’s or Necas’s salary off the books, Carolina’s salary cap space would be obliterated if they were to sign Bedard. On that I think we all agree.
NHL teams out there might come up with some creative move that lands them a deal with Chicago for the 1st overall pick in this year’s draft. Connor Bedard has not played an NHL game yet, and Chicago is already making room for Stanley Cups….and selling season tickets. It would take some thing VERY interesting to get rights to him away from Chicago. It is possible.
Would any of them meet the demands I placed, in my magical scenario? I know the Carolina Hurricanes would not. Even with a wild and crazy deal that included a third team, perhaps even a Warren Zevon song, I do not see one Connor Bedard joining his first post game Storm Surge anytime soon!
*I would also like to once again mention, this is pure speculation. If you treat it as anything other than speculation and conjecture, that is TOTALLY on you. You didn’t read things carefully enough or at all.*