Blackhawks Looking North Of The Border For Bedard's Perfect Linemate
The Chicago Blackhawks could be looking north of the border for Connor Bedard's perfect linemate for the future.
Blackhawks Look North At Nylander
After Auston Matthews signed his monster extension, the focus on the Maple Leafs shifted from Matthews to Nylander. Coming off an 87-point year, Nylander is an established star and will look to build off it.
Entering the final year of his contract, Nylander wants to get paid but the gap between his demands and what the Leafs are willing to part with is significant.
Recently, NHL Trade Talk linked the Swedish star to the Blackhawks as a potential linemate for Connor Bedard.
The Practicality
Currently, Bedard is projected to have Taylor Hall as his number-one winger. While Hall is a former first-overall pick, he is a shell of his former self posting only 36 points in 61 games last year.
It is up in the air who the other winger would be but it is projected to be one of Lukas Reichel, Taylor Raddysh, or Corey Perry. William Nylander would be a massive upgrade and could offer some elite goalscoring to complement Bedard.
The Blackhawks do not have any players they could swap for Nylander 1 for 1 so it will likely be a package surrounded by futures but if the Blackhawks could cough up some top picks and prospects, the Leafs should bite on the deal.
Any of the picks and prospects could be used to extend the Leafs championship window and would come in at a cheap cap hit so the Leafs could manage to build a cup contender around Matthews and Marner for years to come as opposed to losing Nylander for free in free agency.
As seen on House of Hockey - Blackhawks Eyeing Trade For Star Winger to Play With Bedard
| POLL | ||
AOÛT 26 | 165 ANSWERS Blackhawks Looking North Of The Border For Bedard's Perfect Linemate Should the Blackhawks try to trade for Nylander? | ||
| Yes | 97 | 58.8 % |
| No | 68 | 41.2 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Corey Perry | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||