Connor Bedard doesn’t know exactly what he’ll be able to do physically when the Chicago Blackhawks open training camp in the fall.

The young star forward is sure of one thing, though. Chicago is interested in nothing other than getting back to the playoffs for the first time since the turn of the decade.

“We want to take a big step this year. We want to be a playoff team and that’s our only goal,” Bedard said Monday in his first meeting with reporters since signing a five-year, $75 million contract extension Saturday.

Bedard, who turned just 21 on Friday, was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2023 and the Calder Memorial Trophy winner the ensuing season as the NHL’s rookie of the year.

Hailed as the top prospect to enter the league since Connor McDavid, Bedard has played three solid seasons for the Blackhawks, collecting career highs in goals (30), assists (45) and points (75) in just 69 games in 2025-26.

One thing the Blackhawks have yet to produce in the Bedard era is a winning season. But they have climbed from 52 points in Bedard’s rookie season to 61 in 2024-25 to 72 last year.

The playoff drought reached six years, dating back to the end of Patrick Kane’s tenure in town. Bedard, though, likes what his franchise did to improve this offseason, starting with the acquisition of Colorado Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram.

“We’ve had a great, great summer,” Bedard said. “Obviously getting Bo, he’s someone who’s going to be one of the best D-men in the league. He’s always shown that, but when you play behind Cale (Makar) and (Rasmus) Dahlin (with the Sabres), it’s not easy to take their spots, so just for him to have that opportunity to be that one and prove himself in that way and he’s going to do it. He’s one of the most skilled players in the league.”

He also pointed to the additions of veteran forward Jordan Greenway and defenseman Ian Cole, among others.

But one more potential signing would be the biggest splash of all in Chicago: a reunion with Kane.

After the Blackhawks traded Kane to the New York Rangers late in the 2022-23 campaign, the highest-scoring U.S.-born player in NHL history went on to play three seasons with the rival Detroit Red Wings. Kane, still producing goals at 37, is one of the top free agents still available.

“I don’t know what I can say to persuade his decision, but we’d all be so excited to have a player like that but also a guy like that.

“I can’t imagine his first game back at (Chicago), just the reaction he’d get and how much juice that would bring not only to our team but our fans as well. That would be incredible to get to play with him and learn from him.”

Kane underwent surgery for a left shoulder injury on July 8 and was given a four-month timetable for his return. That would place him back on the ice in early November; the regular season begins in late September rather than the usual October start due to the expansion to an 84-game schedule.

Kane didn’t rule out beating the four-month timeline.

“We’ll see,” he said. “… I’m just going to do everything I can day-to-day to try to get back as quick as possible.”

–Field Level Media

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets safety Jordan Whitehead, whose career has been put on hold since he was injured in a two-vehicle car crash in early 2025, has been cleared to resume football activities, per a Monday report from NFL Network.

A member of Tampa Bay’s 2020 Super Bowl-winning squad, Whitehead was cleared to restart his career following neck surgery by his surgeon and the Philadelphia Eagles’ spine specialist Alex Vaccaro.

The veteran safety has already received some interest from teams, working out for the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans.

Whitehead, 29, has been out of football since he was seriously injured in the automobile crash on Jan. 4, 2025. A former fourth-round pick of the Bucs in 2018, Whitehead spent two years with the Jets in 2022-23 before returning to Tampa Bay in 2024.

He has career numbers of 11 interceptions, 557 tackles and 45 passes defensed in 105 games (101 starts).

–Field Level Media

After what may have been his final World Cup match, Lionel Messi was in tears on the field Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J., ruing a missed chance to win a second consecutive title for Argentina.

Messi, without hinting whether his World Cup career was officially through, congratulated Spain and said the memories will last in an Instagram post Monday.

“The pain is immense, and this wound will take time to heal,” Messi wrote in his native Spanish alongside a photo of him bearing a silver medal. “But I also hold onto all the good things… The matches we turned around by giving it our all–moments that will remain in our memories forever–and the support of an entire country which, combined with this group’s hard work and effort, brought us back among the world’s elite once again. It is hard to fully appreciate our achievement right now, but this group reached two consecutive World Cup finals.”

Argentina defeated France on penalty kicks following a 3-3 draw in the 2022 final in Qatar, earning the last piece of major hardware Messi had yet to win in his illustrious career.

Argentina were once again one of the best teams in the 2026 tournament in North America. They rallied past England in the semifinals before coming up against a Spanish defense that held them without a shot on goal.

Messi turned 39 during the tournament and will turn 43 during the 2030 World Cup to be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and message,” Messi wrote. “Once again, we managed to unite as a country and stand together, sharing the immense pride of being Argentine.

“I also want to congratulate Spain on winning the championship.”

Messi broke Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 all-time World Cup goals early in the tournament, and he finished with 21, though he was caught and surpassed by Kylian Mbappe (22). The French star also denied Messi a Golden Boot, finishing with 10 goals to the Argentine’s eight.

ESPN reported Monday that Messi and his national team and club teammate Rodrigo De Paul will not play the next two regular-season matches for Inter Miami, nor participate in the MLS All-Star Game, as they rest and recover from the World Cup.

–Field Level Media