Bedard is the cornerstone of the Blackhawks’ rebuild under Davidson, 37, who was named general manager on March 1, 2022, after serving in an interim role beginning Oct. 26, 2021. He has been with the Blackhawks organization since beginning as an intern in 2010.

“He’s doing a great job,” Bedard said of Davidson after getting two assists against the Sharks on Wednesday. “You see the talent we’ve collected the past few years and he’s a great guy. He’s very easy to talk to. Me and him have a good relationship and he has a good relationship with all of our players. That’s important and he’s a very smart hockey mind. I think it’s exciting when you can keep growing with the same group of people.”

Chicago finished the season 29-39-14 and missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth straight season. The Blackhawks finished with 72 points, 11 more than they had in 2024-25.  

“Just continuity,” Wirtz said of re-signing Davidson. “We’re really, really happy with the progress we’re making and all the work we still need to get done, we want to continue to build the way we’re building and continue to execute on his plan and his vision.”

Said Davidson: “I am extremely grateful for the support that Danny Wirtz has shown me these last four years. His commitment to our shared vision for the future of the Blackhawks has been vital to the success we’ve seen as we’ve worked to build our roster into a team that can compete for years to come. We still have lots of work to do as we strive to bring the Stanley Cup back to Chicago and I’m excited to continue building a team that our fans can be proud of.”

Recent draft picks Bedard and Frank Nazar (No. 13, 2022 NHL Draft) were two of Chicago’s top three scorers this season. Nazar was third with 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists). Anton Frondell, the No. 3 pick of the 2025 draft, made his NHL debut on March 24 and had nine points (three goals, six assists) in 12 games.

Davidson drafted defenseman Artyom Levshunov with the No. 2 pick in 2024 and acquired goalie Spencer Knight from the Florida Panthers on March 1, 2025. Levshunov had 24 points (two goals, 22 assists) in 68 games this season, while Knight was 19-25-11 with a .902 save percentage and 2.82 goals-against average.

“These players in their own development have to take another step,” Wirtz said. “Even Connor needs to take another step and he will. He’s that competitive, but across the board, those are the things (we need). The collective improvement each of those players makes translates into team competitiveness and ultimately wins. That’s what we’re going for.

“Our intention is to be competing and winning Stanley Cups but we can’t race to that conclusion until we do all those right things. I feel really good with our pipeline, I feel really good with our prospects but prospects turning into real players as we’ve seen this year is going to be continuing the trend.”

The Blackhawks’ focus under Davidson has been to build from within, to draft and develop the next generation. The core of their 2010, 2013 and 2015 Stanley Cup championship teams were their own drafted/developed prospects, including forwards Jonathan Toews (No. 3 pick in the 2006 NHL Draft) and Patrick Kane (No. 1 in 2007) and defensemen Duncan Keith (No. 54 in 2002) and Brent Seabrook (No. 14 in 2003). 

That said, Wirtz said he’s fine with Davidson adding some veterans through free agency too.

“I don’t think our plan has always been exclusively to build from within,” Wirtz said. “We think that the core of this team needs to be homegrown talent through the draft. That’s how we were successful in the past.

“When the opportunity arises and we have the opportunity to add to our team and become better, there’s nothing holding Kyle back, that’s for sure. It’s not coming from me. So, he’s got the reins to make those decisions when he thinks the time is right and when the opportunities arise. We can’t always make opportunities out of thin air. (It’s) a combination of continuing to build from within and adding the right ingredients when the time comes.”