The Blackhawks' lengthy rebuild kept Mitch Marner from being Connor Bedard's ideal linemate

The dream of Mitch Marner and Connor Bedard being linemates on the Chicago Blackhawks will not become a reality.

It turns out Marner did not officially reach free agency for the Blackhawks to even make a run at signing him. Marner was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights on the eve of free agency and signed an eight-year deal worth $12 million annually.

The Blackhawks had the cap space to sign Marner for that much. It sounded like they were not going to pursue him as the front office gears up for another fiscally responsible offseason. Even if they wanted to go after him, Marner allowing a trade to Vegas is a signal he wanted to go to a contender.

Thus, this lengthy rebuild prevents another ideal player from coming to Chicago and skating with Bedard.

The Athletic's senior NHL writer and co-Blackhawks beat writer, Mark Lazerus, tweeted that the Hawks' front office felt the timelines were not a match.

It seems like the front office just does not feel like the rebuild is at the point of adding its version of Marian Hossa. It would be nice if this rebuild eventually starts to produce some progress. Maybe then, the team can add a superstar player that puts them over the top. The team's brass might be right when it comes to not pursuing Marner.

His 75 assists would have been great to slide in right next to Bedard. Those two feeding each other passes in the offensive zone would have provided a ton of goals.

However, the rest of Marner's game has had some question marks, at least when it comes to the intangibles. He will fire the puck on goal. He has a history of most of those shots getting easily blocked (subscription required). Toronto fans blamed his lackluster play in last year's playoffs as one of the reasons the Maple Leafs had another painful exit.

There is a high probability that his contract does not age well.

It would have been nice for the Blackhawks to add someone of Marner's offensive talent to help get the most out of Bedard. Instead, the phenom is working on himself to get the most out of his talents.

Maybe Oliver Moore or the recently drafted Anton Frondell turn out to be just as good as Marner. If that is the case, they will come younger and cheaper, just the way this organization likes it.