Connor Bedard is the biggest loser of blockbuster Mikko Rantanen trade

One of the biggest NHL trades in recent memory occurred out of nowhere on Friday night, with Martin Necas and Mikko Rantanen swapping teams. Necas is the newest member of the Colorado Avalanche and Rantanen joins a stacked Carolina Hurricanes squad. This part of the deal made sense for both sides.

In Rantanen, the Hurricanes are acquiring one of the 10 or 15 best players in the sport. Yes, he's a rental right now, but there's certainly a path towards him staying in Carolina long-term. This move catapults them into legitimate Stanley Cup contention, if they weren't there already. With Necas, the Avalanche are acquiring a star forward who might not be as good as Rantanen, but comes with an extra year on his contract. The Avalanche also acquired Jack Drury, a capable two-way center.

As if this star swap wasn't surprising enough, there was a third team in this blockbuster trade. The Chicago Blackhawks traded Taylor Hall and acquired their own third-round pick while retaining half of Rantanen's salary.

Value-wise, this deal is fine. The Blackhawks' third-round pick is similar to that of a late-second-round selection, which is a good get for a veteran on an expiring contract who wasn't racking up points at an elite level. With that being said, the Blackhawks continuing to shed the little bit of talent that they have can't be good for Connor Bedard.

Blackhawks continue to give Connor Bedard nothing to work with

The Blackhawks won the 2023 NHL Draft lottery, giving them the pick that would allow them to select Connor Bedard No. 1 overall. Bedard was seen as a generational prospect and put together an incredibly strong rookie season, scoring 22 goals and racking up 61 points in 68 games played. He won the Calder Trophy despite playing on one of the worst teams in the NHL and despite missing time due to injury.

Bedard's sophomore season was supposed to see him take a step toward being a superstar at just 19 years old, but he enters Saturday's action with 13 goals and 42 points in 48 games played for a Blackhawks team that has the second-lowest point total in the NHL.

Bedard has played well, obviously, but he has seen slight dips in his goal and point pace relative to where he was last season. At least part of the reason for that has to do with the lack of talent surrounding him. Now, the Blackhawks just traded the most established forward on their roster in exchange for a draft pick that cannot help Bedard this season. They also retained salary on a player that they could pursued and tried to extend as Bedard's running mate for a long time.

Hall never proved to be the ideal running mate for Bedard Chicago was hoping he'd be, and wasn't even playing on Bedard's line by the end of his tenure, but all this trade does is open up time for a younger player who will not help Bedard's development right now. Sure, this might help the Blackhawks in the future, but Bedard still needs players around him.

Right now, Bedard's linemates according to Daily Faceoff are Frank Nazar, a 21-year-old with two goals in 19 games this season, and Tyler Bertuzzi, a player who, despite playing well this season, has just one year in which he's scored more than 21 goals. Again, Hall wasn't the best fit on this team, but he's certainly one of the more talented forwards on the roster. The Blackhawks weakened an already subpar roster when developing Bedard should be one of their top priorities.

The Blackhawks did fine value-wise in the trade, but it's hard to say they did exceptionally well to land a third-round pick for Hall while also eating more salary than they would've had they retained half of Hall's salary. Chicago might've been better off holding onto Hall, giving Bedard another chance to play with him, and fetching a better return closer to March's trade deadline. At this value, Bedard looks like the biggest loser of Friday's blockbuster.