The Chicago Blackhawks announced on Saturday that they’ve signed star center Connor Bedard to a new contract. And that contract has to make New Jersey Devils fans, and weirdly, Tom Fitzgerald, very happy.
Bedard was given a five-year deal worth $15 million per season. If this contract was signed four weeks ago, there would be some serious sticker shock. However, after the Leo Carlsson offer sheet was signed and then matched by the Anaheim Ducks, it changed how we look at contracts moving forward.
Bedard is currently the third-highest-paid player in the NHL. Only Carlsson and The Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov are making more than Bedard.
This obviously brings us back to when the Devils signed Jack Hughes to his deal. At the time, many were very surprised that then-GM Tom Fitzgerald gave Hughes an eight-year deal worth $8 million per season. While he wasn’t near the highest paid players in the league, it was still the highest contract on the Devils at the time.
Fitzgerald was proven right to take a chance on Hughes. Like Bedard, we hadn’t seen near the best of Hughes at the time of his signing. He had one bad season, one fine season, and he was in the midst of his best season. Today, Hughes is expected to be a 100-point player.
We continue to be reminded about how great Jack Hughes's contract is
Many call Hughes’s contract the best in the NHL. While the concept for Bedard’s contract is the same, there are a few reasons why his will never fall in the same category. For one, his salary is almost double what Hughes’s is right now, and it’s at the top of the league. Hughes was definitely in the upper echelon of salaries, but he was nowhere near the top.
On top of that, Bedard is set up to become a free agent after a few years in his prime. That eight-year deal is key for the Devils. Hughes has four more seasons left on the deal. All this nonsense about the Minnesota Wild or other trade rumors surrounding Hughes is nonsense because of the length of his deal.
If he signed a five-year deal like Bedard did, he would be on the last year of his deal. The Devils would likely have a much harder conversation on their hands if that was the case.
Bedard’s contract just makes us appreciate Jack Hughes and his amazing deal. He’s more than made up for it with a ton of endorsements, but we’re sure he’s sick of hearing about how he has the most valuable contract in the league.
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