I will say that if they can’t extend him, they absolutely cannot let him walk for nothing. It’s going to hurt like hell if he goes but I would rather get a high-end draft pick out of it
tanking for Bedard or Mich? who knows that team is in for a rude awakening sooner than later though since their prospect pool is bad and their best players are all aging
Essentially they are in no position to let him walk for nothing next summer, and why would he sign an extension now? Bergeron might not be coming back, and they just let go of their coach that helped to develop him. So essentially they could theoretically trade him for the number two pick, use it to draft Logan Cooley who is already committed to college next year, and they will still be bad enough to have an outside chance at Bedard/Michkov.