Connor Bedard Vs Leo Carlsson: The contracts that are shaping the league

Connor Bedard and Leo Carlsson are slowly but surely creating a new norm for superstar contracts around the league. With all the star studded talent coming into the league looking for new contracts off their entry level deals, it is very important that these two superstars took the money and term that they did.

As both stars opted for the same amount of term of five years, this takes both respectively into free agency, avoiding further team control. To become a UFA in the NHL, a player must either be 27 years old or complete seven seasons in the NHL. In both circumstances, Carlsson and Bedard become UFAs on July 1st, 2031, making it an already stacked free agent class before anyone else decides to walk into free agency.

This is important because if these contracts work out, don’t be surprised if they become the new normal around the league. When players like Macklin Celebrini and Matthew Schaefer eventually come off their entry level deals, I wouldn’t be surprised if they look at what Bedard and Carlsson did and try to follow a very similar path into unrestricted free agency.

Both Bedard and Carlsson are special players, that is easily identifiable. The question for me is, do they deserve the money that they were paid?

Connor Bedard recently was paid quite generously over a five year span with 15 million dollars per year and a cheeky signing bonus of 9.8 million, somewhat replicating the Sidney Crosby contract to a degree, making his number an important factor.

Nonetheless, Bedard, the former first overall pick from the 2023 NHL Draft, is a 5’10 Canadian born sniper with a knack to involve his teammates and be that franchise player that the Hawks desperately need.

Bedard has proven that he is a franchise player, winning the Calder in his debut season, putting up 67 points in 82 games, showcasing himself as that player that astonished scouts worldwide through both his international play and CHL career.

The biggest thing that stands out to me with Bedard is that the expectations have never really changed. Ever since he entered the league, he has been expected to carry the Blackhawks every single night. Whether that is fair or not is another discussion, but Chicago simply hasn’t surrounded him with enough elite talent to fully maximize what he brings offensively.

That is until this year in my opinion. 

I've written op ed pieces about the Blackhawks and it's fair to say I've been harsh but having a full healthy season of Kantserov, Frondell and Byram may just be the spark that the Hawks  need to really make that push Bedard deserves.

When opposing teams play Chicago, Connor Bedard is the first player on the whiteboard. He’s the player every defensive pairing prepares for and the player every coach wants to shut down. Yet despite that attention, he continues to produce and show flashes of why he was considered a generational prospect.

On the other side, you have Leo Carlsson.

Carlsson signed a very similar five year contract, but his situation couldn’t be more different.

Where Bedard is expected to drag Chicago back into relevance almost single handedly, Carlsson has been allowed to develop on a young Anaheim Ducks team that has slowly added pieces around him year after year. Instead of carrying the entire franchise on his shoulders, Carlsson has been able to grow alongside players like Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke, Pavel Mintyukov, and Jackson LaCombe.

That doesn’t make Carlsson any less valuable.

If anything, it highlights how different value can be from one franchise to another.

Leo Carlsson is a six foot three Swedish centre that plays a mature 200 foot game well beyond his years. Whilst Bedard is capable of taking over a game with one shot, Carlsson impacts games in almost every area of the ice. He protects the puck exceptionally well, wins battles along the boards, makes smart defensive reads and has the offensive instincts to produce at a high level.

He may never put up the same goal totals as Bedard, but not every franchise player has to.

Sometimes your most valuable player is the one who controls the pace of the game, matches up against the opposition’s best players and quietly makes everyone around him better.

That is exactly what I think Leo Carlsson is becoming.

For me, this comparison isn’t about who is the better hockey player.

It’s about value.

If Connor Bedard went down for an extended period of time, I genuinely believe Chicago would struggle to remain competitive. He’s the heartbeat of that organization and everything offensively revolves around him.

It hurts badly that he's out for the beginning of the season but I believe that the hawks will be able to bounce back once Bedard returns and hopefully get a crack at making the playoffs in the easier western conference, 

Anaheim, on the other hand, has built a much deeper foundation. Losing Carlsson would obviously hurt, but the Ducks have surrounded him with enough young talent that they could still remain competitive while he recovers.

Ironically, that’s what makes this debate so interesting.

Connor Bedard may be more valuable simply because Chicago needs him more.

Leo Carlsson may be the more complete player in certain situations because Anaheim doesn’t need him to do everything by himself.

Both organizations committed to the faces of their franchises, and I honestly think both made the correct decision even if they were costly.

Five years from now, we’ll finally have our answer as to whether these contracts were worth every penny or whether one organization came out ahead of the other.

Thank you for reading ThePerspectiveOfPucks.