Connor Bedard needs more talent around him in 2024-25 — and beyond — than he had in 2023-24.
The Blackhawks are well aware of that. As they enter the busiest week of the NHL offseason, with the draft Friday and Saturday and free agency starting Monday, getting the star teenage forward some help has to be at the front of general manager Kyle Davidson’s mind.
This isn’t simply about keeping Bedard happy and committed to the rebuild because — while important — that doesn’t seem to be in question. No, this is about the Hawks understanding their recipe for ascending the NHL hierarchy revolves around Bedard, who likely will receive the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie Thursday. He’s worthy of infinite investment.
In a competitive league in which almost every team intends to improve from one season to the next, he is the Hawks’ X-factor — the asset nobody else has. If they eventually do climb back to Stanley Cup contention in the latter half of the 2020s, it almost certainly will be because of him.
Davidson already has declared he expects that ascension to begin this coming season. The Hawks won’t be a playoff team, but they at least need to step out of the basement of the league.
Improving depth throughout the roster is part of Davidson’s plan. But accelerating Bedard’s long-term development while simultaneously maximizing his production in his second NHL season should be the biggest part of his plan.
At the draft, the decision the Hawks make with the No. 2 overall pick won’t affect Bedard in 2024-25 but might have a great impact on his long-term development.
Russian forward Ivan Demidov, despite being the higher-risk option, has the potential to be a perfect complementary first-line winger for Bedard down the road.
And if the Hawks opt to select defenseman Artyom Levshunov with that pick instead, which seems more likely, they probably will take a forward with the No. 18 pick. A winger such as Michael Brandsegg-Nygard or Igor Chernyshov, two possibilities in that spot, could evolve into a linemate for Bedard if things go well.
Through free-agent signings and trades, meanwhile, the Hawks almost certainly will bring in one or two new top-six forwards. Whomever they acquire will compete in training camp for the two vacant first-line spots on both sides of Bedard.
Returning forward Philipp Kurashev, who surprisingly emerged as Bedard’s most consistent linemate this past season, will get an opportunity to re-earn that role. But the Hawks shouldn’t have Nick Foligno and Ryan Donato be Bedard’s next-most-frequent linemates again, and they can’t totally count on Kurashev re-creating that chemistry, either.
Davidson will consider tons of options this summer — from trade targets such as Nikolaj Ehlers and Martin Necas to free agents such as Jake Guentzel and Tyler Bertuzzi — but one particular option who makes a lot of sense is Teuvo Teravainen.
Teravainen, now 29, spent the majority of his tenure with the Hurricanes as a complementary winger to a star center (Sebastian Aho), racking up far more assists than goals but putting up solid numbers nonetheless. He had 53 points in 76 games this past season, marking the fifth time in his last six full seasons he has eclipsed the 50-point threshold.
The nostalgia factor — as a former Hawks draft pick and a member of their 2015 Stanley Cup championship team — matters, too.
Fans would rejoice in his return, and his familiarity with the city might help woo him back. His agent, Markus Lehto, said Tuesday that Teravainen has ‘‘always liked [Chicago] a lot.’’
The Hawks must remember that Taylor Hall will return to the top-six mix this coming season, too, because he’s expected to be fully recovered from his ACL surgery in time for camp. Hall is now two seasons removed from his 61-point campaign with the Bruins in 2021-22, but he still has that talent somewhere in him.
