Connor Bedard contract talks are officially where they should be for the Chicago Blackhawks: uncomfortable, expensive and impossible to ignore.

The Blackhawks and Bedard’s camp have exchanged numbers, according to agent Don Meehan, which means the slow dance is finally turning into a real negotiation. That doesn’t mean a deal is around the corner. It means the franchise has reached the part of the rebuild where the bill for its superstar finally shows up.

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And it’s going to be massive.

Bedard is still only 20, but he’s no longer being paid like a prospect. He just produced 30 goals, 45 assists and 75 points in 69 games on a roster that didn’t exactly hand him a cheat code supporting cast. Chicago didn’t draft him first overall in 2023 to pinch pennies three years later. The Blackhawks drafted him to be the face of the next era.

Now Kyle Davidson has to decide how much of that era he wants to buy right now.

The biggest question isn’t whether Bedard gets paid. He will. The question is term. An eight-year deal would give Chicago cost certainty through the heart of Bedard’s prime. A four- or five-year contract would give Bedard another crack at the market while he’s still young enough to break the bank again.

That second path is the scary one for the Blackhawks.

With the NHL salary cap rising, waiting could be expensive. AFP Analytics projected Bedard’s long-term cap hit around $12.3 million, but that number already feels light. If Leo Carlsson, Adam Fantilli, Cutter Gauthier or Zach Benson helps reset the market first, Bedard’s leverage only gets stronger.

That’s why the entire restricted free agent class feels frozen. Columbus general manager Don Waddell said Fantilli’s side is “waiting to see what happens” elsewhere, adding that “nobody wants to go first.”

Translation: everybody wants someone else to set the floor.

Bedard doesn’t need much help making his case. Carlsson had 67 points in 70 games last season for Anaheim. Bedard had 75 in 69 games while carrying a weaker Blackhawks offense. If Carlsson pushes near $12 million per year, Bedard’s camp can walk into the room and ask why Chicago’s franchise player shouldn’t be higher.

Then there’s the offer-sheet chaos lurking in the background. Bedard signing one elsewhere still feels far-fetched, and the Blackhawks would match anything anyway. But this RFA class is deep enough and expensive enough that someone around the league might get aggressive.

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Jason Robertson is the dream-name temptation. The Dallas Stars winger is one of the NHL’s most productive scorers over the last four seasons, and if the Stars don’t want to climb past $12 million, the Blackhawks should at least make the call. Robertson next to Bedard would instantly change the way people view Chicago’s rebuild.

Will it happen? Probably not. Dallas would likely want proven NHL talent, not just picks and prospects.

But Davidson can’t just lock up Bedard and call it a summer. Paying the superstar is step one. Proving to him that Chicago is done wasting his best years is the real challenge.