This stat comparison shows just how great the Bedard contract is for the Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks have locked down their star player and it came at the perfect price. Connor Bedard re-signed with the Chicago Blackhawks for five years at $15 million AAV. As a restricted free agent, the Blackhawks had some control over where their first-round pick would end up. Luckily for them, they escaped any offer sheets like the one that drove up the cost of Bedard's counterpart in Anaheim, Leo Carlsson.

After the Philadelphia Flyers tendered an offer sheet for Leo Carlsson, the Anaheim Ducks were forced to match the terms of the deal or watch their second overall pick in 2023 walk out the door. They chose to match the offer, signing Carlsson to a five-year deal at $18 million AAV. This makes Carlsson the highest-paid player in the NHL.

While many thought that Bedard's next deal might give that some competition, he came in at a lower, cap-friendlier rate that keeps Bedard a Blackhawk while also allowing him a chance to get paid more in the future as the cap goes up. Looking at the matchups between Bedard and Carlsson, who were drafted first and second in the same draft class, it's easy to tell that the Blackhawks got more bang for their buck with the Bedard contract.

The Bedard/Carlsson Comparison

In nearly every stat matchup, Connor Bedard clears Leo Carlsson. Though Carlsson has played slightly fewer games, Bedard still has the higher average stats in most categories.

Bedard has 75 career goals to Carlsson's 61 and produces at a 0.34 goal-per-game pace, compared to Carlsson's 0.30. The assist category is where Bedard clearly outperforms Carlsson, putting up 128 assists throughout his career, compared to Carlsson's 80. Bedard has hit the 200-point mark in his career, coming into his new contract at 203 points, 62 points ahead of Carlsson. When it comes to total ice time, Bedard also usually plays more, averaging 20 minutes a game to Carlsson's 17.

Carlsson only leads Bedard in a few of the major stats, including +/- —where Carlsson is -,1 and Bedard is -98—and in short-handed goals, something Bedard has none of in his career thus far.

Perhaps most importantly, Bedard is a bigger contributor to his team's totals than Carlsson is. In his career, Bedard has an estimated 18 percent of the Blackhawks' total points, while Carlsson has 13.7 percent. Offensively, Bedard has contributed 15 percent of the total point share compared to Carlsson's 10. However, Carlsson does have the slight edge when it comes to defensive points, where he has an estimated 3.7 to Bedard's 3.0.

Locking down a player who is that important to the team's every situation at only $15 million per season makes this contract so much better that Carlsson's. Both players are about to enter the next step of their careers, and only time will tell which player will come out on top.

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