Connor Bedard has been a Blackhawk for two seasons and already has the franchise’s future stapled to his name. Now he’d like to borrow a piece of its past.
Speaking with reporters Monday, the 19-year-old center openly campaigned for a Patrick Kane reunion in Chicago, offering an endorsement that went well beyond boilerplate teammate-speak.
“I can’t imagine his first game back at the UC, the reaction he would get and how much juice that would bring to not only our team but our fans, as well,” Bedard said, via Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. “That would be incredible to get to play with him and learn from him. Hopefully he decides to come back.”
Per Mark Lazerus and Scott Powers of The Athletic, Bedard went further: “Hopefully he comes back and we can play together.” He added that a Kane return “would make us a way better team.”
Kane remains an unrestricted free agent as the calendar pushes deeper into July. The two landing spots that have circulated most consistently in reporting are a return to Chicago — where he spent 16 seasons, won three Stanley Cups, and accumulated 1,225 of his 1,400 career points — and the Buffalo Sabres, the franchise nearest his hometown of South Buffalo. Kane turns 38 in November.
The numbers tell a more complicated story than the nostalgia. Kane posted 16 goals and 41 assists for the Detroit Red Wings last season — 57 points in 67 games, a 0.85 points-per-game rate that still outproduces most of Chicago’s current forward group. But that figure is a shadow of his peak. From 2015–16 through 2019–20, Kane averaged 1.14 points per game and never dipped below 84 points in a full season. The version the Blackhawks would be getting is a power-play specialist and situational creator, not the engine that drove three Cup runs.
Whether that matters to a Chicago team that finished 25th in the league in goals for last season is the real question. The Blackhawks’ top forwards by points in 2024–25 were Tyler Bertuzzi and Philipp Kurashev — neither of whom cleared 50. Kane’s even-strength impact has waned, but on a man advantage that ranked 28th in the NHL, his half-wall playmaking could move the needle in a way that few internal options can.
Bedard, who recently signed a long-term extension to remain in Chicago, has never shared a roster with Kane. The two are separated by a 19-year age gap and a franchise rebuild that began after Kane’s final Cup in 2015. What connects them is the No. 1 overall pick — Kane in 2007, Bedard in 2023 — and the organizational hope that one generation’s icon can accelerate the next one’s development.
Kane has not publicly tipped his hand. The Sabres offer proximity to family and a roster that underperformed its underlying metrics last season; the Blackhawks offer legacy, a familiar building, and a 19-year-old center who is openly recruiting him.
The decision, as Bedard framed it, is Kane’s alone. The pitch is already in.