Uh, have, have you talked about leadership at all? Has, has the topic of the captaincy come up at all?

Not till, not till today.

Just the congratulations.

But just getting to be around.

I mean, he's, he's just one of the guys, you know? He, uh, loves, loves being with us.

He always is joining us at dinners and, and everything and, um, you know, he just loves being in the room.

You know, he's, he's a, he's a pretty big chirper, so he's always kind of giving it to you no matter what.

I would probably play for free." Why do you feel so committed to the Blackhawks?

sure so i loved your honesty connor because you're asked about making that much money and you're like well yeah it's it's cool to it is and i appreciated the honesty because some players will try to avoid it a little bit but does it sink in like how does that sink in that okay wow uh i have that much money coming to my bank account this coming season

Um, yeah, I don't know if it's, um, I mean, you're not thinking about it.

Like, you know, we're, we're just so lucky.

Like you play hockey your whole life just for fun and, you know, paying to play, your parents are paying to play and then you're just playing for fun and you never think about that much.

And then, I mean, just to get to play in the NHL and, and have the life I do, it's, you know, a dream and something that, I'm extremely grateful for.

And then obviously then, then you get that life changing money and your kids, kids are going to benefit.

And it's just, it's just very, you know, we're very fortunate people, you know, what we get to do and how we get treated in that sense.

How do you balance those two things?

... negotiations and, and finalize your deal for three times as much as, or four times as much as LeBron James, um, you know, how much did that contract come into play? 'Cause I mean, there were people thinking you could play a little bit of hardball here and say, "I'm, I'm probably worth what Leo Carlsson's worth, if not a little more." You know, how much did that influence y- your thought process when it came to negotiations?

Yeah.

Not, not at all, uh, to be honest with you.

Um, you know, for me, I, I let, kind of let them know from the start an offer sheet wasn't something I was ever gonna do, I think.

Not, not that there's anything wrong with that.

I'm, you know, extremely happy for Leo, and, um, you know, he's an amazing player, and that's ...

He's gonna be worth more than that, you know? But, um, just for me, the, you know, the, the risk of, you know, not being a Blackhawk wasn't, you know, worth any amount of money.

Like, where do your expectations for yourself go from here? Like, where, how does it change, you know, what you expect out of yourself going into next year and, and I guess over the next five?

Like, where do your expectations for yourself go from here? Like, where, how does it change, you know, what you expect out of yourself going into next year and, and I guess over the next five?

Um, yeah, I mean, I think my expectations of myself are always high.

It's, it's not whether, you know, you're on an ELC or making, you know, 15.

It's not, uh, it's not something you think about during the game.

You want to be the best you can possibly be and, and of course it is an added pressure to make that kind of money and, um, there's even higher expectations and, you know, that's something that everyone's aware of.

But to have that pressure is obviously, you know, a privilege and, and the support I've gotten from the fans and, um, just the belief in, in Kyle and Danny and everyone in the organization to put a commitment to me like that just gives you so much confidence and, um, you know, just so grateful to be, be here and, um, you know, like I said, have that confidence in the, in the team.

Did, how f- how close did you feel you were to making that Olympic team?

team?Uh, yeah, I don't know.

Like, you know, you've seen guys maybe sign shorter deals to kind of see where the team's at later, or do you think that'll enter the equation at all, um, in terms of when you st- when you actually sit down and explore your contract options?

Uh, no. Um, you know, I, I wanna-- I talk about wanting to win, and we all wanna win.

I, I, I wanna win here, you know, I, um, you know, for as long as I'm playing.

But, um, at the end of the day, I have so much faith in, you know, the management, the coaching, um, and also our players.

Like, I, we get to see each other every day, how we approach the game, how guys practice, how, you know, much skill there is.

So, you know, I, I would go to bat for any, any single guy in that room and, um, you know, argue that they're gonna reach their full potential just 'cause the mindset and, and work ethic that we have in our group.

So I couldn't be more, uh, confident that we are gonna get to where we wanna get to.

Um, what steps did you-- 'cause we don't get to see you guys and the bond you create, um, what steps did you guys take in that area? It- from the outside it sounded like it, it was dramatic.

Just as far as saying goodbye to teammates and everything, and just, you know, how tough is it every year to, to say goodbye to guys that you've been out there with?

Yeah.

I was-- Uh, yesterday was really tough.

Like, uh, you know, like Dicky I've been with, uh, the whole time.

He's kind of like, you know, like an older brother to me and, um, someone I spent a lot of time with and, uh, so it, it sucks.

And, you know, it's part, part of what, uh, what we do, but, um, yeah, it sucks.

And, and Docker as well, someone, you know, that, you know, two weeks ago, uh, me, him, and Greeny were on vacation talking about, you know, after we win the cup, we're gonna go back and, um, stuff like that.

Is there any, any uneasiness in the room, you feel, with the deadline still tomorrow and still potentially more changes?