There's so much wrong here....

As much as I'd love for Matthews to sign, it would be incredibly short-sighted and hampering to the long term health of this team. Bedard will likely be getting $13M. Then Matthews. Jones at 9.5M. Kane at 7M which would be immovable when he's 38 and making 7M. Reichel is underpaid. He'll likely be a 50-60 point player next to Bedard next season. Then you need to pay Korchinski.

I doubt Teply ever plays in NHL. Demin won't get a contract let alone play in NHL. It's unknown if Shalunov is coming over. Don't think Golod plays in NHL. Allan may not be NHL ready in 2 years.

**phew**

Setting Auston Matthews aside, this is too optimistic about Chicago's prospects. Lukas Reichel will be in the NHL next year, while Alex Vlasic and Cole Guttman may have a shot as well. Kevin Korchinski and Nolan Allan could be in the NHL by 2024-25 (although even top defense prospects often need some AHL seasoning). As for the others. . .

Frank Nazar and Colton Dach are good prospects, but they haven't quite been good enough to suggest that they'll be ready for full-time NHL duty within the next 2 years. That goes especially for Nazar: he missed almost the entire 2022-23 season, and he was just okay when healthy. The same goes for Drew Commesso -- he seems to be better than his statistics would suggest, but he'll still only be 23 in 2024-25. Only the most elite goalie prospects are ready to be NHL starters by age 23, and Commesso is not one of those goalies.

Michal Teplý still has NHL potential, but he doesn't seem close to NHL-ready right now.

Stanislav Demin was not a top defenseman in the NCAA this year. . . despite being 23 years old, which made him one of the older players in college hockey. Chicago is highly unlikely to offer him a contract, much less promote him to the NHL at any point.

Samuel Savoie is an undersized forward who has never scored at a point-per-game pace in the QMJHL (the weakest and highest-scoring of the CHL leagues). He was 5th on his own junior team in scoring this season. Unless Savoie breaks out in a big way next year, Chicago is unlikely to even sign him (much less play him in the NHL straight out of juniors).

Maxim Golod turns 23 this summer, near the age where forwards reach their peak. And he still hasn't graduated from the ECHL. I'll be shocked if Chicago even re-signs him this summer. If he makes the NHL at all (let alone making it just 2 years from now) he'd be one of the NHL's most unexpected underdog stories.