Morning Chirps: Bedard loves Chicago, Saad could be heading to Europe

It’s your back-to-work edition of Morning Chirps, so you can catch up on all the news from the weekend.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks' success in the 2026-27 season could rely on how they start the season without their top player. Can they survive the first few weeks?

• Nestor Quixtan wrote that Connor Bedard proved that he is committed to the Blackhawks, but his commitment isn’t cheap.

• Bedard shared this post on his Instagram account.

• And the Blackhawks social media team had some fun with those who thought Bedard would sign an offer sheet and leave town. They kept the receipts.

• On this date in 2016, Brad Richards announced his retirement after 15 NHL seasons. He spent the 2014-15 season with the Blackhawks, centering Patrick Kane for much of the year. After 12 goals and 37 points in the regular season, he scored three goals and 14 points in the postseason run to the Stanley Cup.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, July 20: Lorne Davis, Murray Craven, Antoine Vermette, Ryan Stanton, and Andrew Shaw.

NHL Chirps

• Brandon Saad won two Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks and has now played 15 NHL seasons. However, he might be looking to make a move overseas for his next job. According to Johan Svensson, he is garnering interest from two Swedish Hockey League teams - Brynas IF and Djugardens IF.

• According to Mark Scheig, Columbus Blue Jackets center Isac Lundestrom underwent successful Achilles surgery. He is expected to return in early November.

• Speaking of the Blue Jackets, general manager Don Waddell told Brian Hedger that he will match any offer sheet given to Adam Fantilli. I guess he didn’t learn anything from the Leo Carlsson fiasco.

• On Saturday, we got a projected lineup for Sweden’s team for the 2027 NHL All-Star Game. Yesterday, the league moved on to Finland.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, July 20: Larry Johnston, Terry Murray, Jimmy Carson, Jozef Stumpel, Peter Forsberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Matt Gilroy, Oscar Klefbom, Nick Cousins, Morgan Geekie, Parker Ford, Ilya Solovyov, and Jaroslav Chmelar.

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