In my post about the Blackhawks' playoff elimination, I asked, "How long until Connor Bedard demands a trade to a contender?" I asked that semi-jokingly, though with Bedard's mindset, he may want out after about four years. Jumping ship to a perceived contender may sound like a good idea, but as the saying goes, "The grass isn't always greener on the other side."

Let me tell you a little story.

Once upon a time, there was an NHL player named Matt Duchene. Duchene was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in 2009 and played over eight seasons with the team, which included the horrendous 2016-17 season. After that year, Duchene wanted a trade--he wanted out. In fact, his exact words were, "I want to be on a playoff team." At that time, the Avs weren't a perennial playoff team. After being ousted by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2008 playoffs, the Avs only made the playoffs twice during Duchene's tenure:  the 2009-10 season and the 2013-14 season (the latter season being Nathan MacKinnon's rookie year).

On November 5, 2017, Duchene was dealt to the Ottawa Senators as part of a three team arrangement with the Avalanche and the Nashville Predators. At the time, the Senators were coming off almost reaching the Stanley Cup Final in the previous year (2016-17). However, the Senators would regress badly. A seventh place finish that year, and on the following year (2018-19), the Sens finished with the worst record in the league. That year saw Duchene caught on tape complaining about the state of the team, and he ended up dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he was part of Columbus' surprise upset sweep victory over the 62-win Tampa Bay Lightning. Duchene would later be signed by the Nashville Predators, and he's currently with the Dallas Stars.

As for the Avalanche, months after the trade, the team went on a winning tear that resulted in a surprise playoff appearance in 2018. It would be the first of six straight playoff appearances (with a seventh most likely happening this year), and would include a Stanley Cup Championship in 2022. So yeah, if after a few years, Bedard's thinking about wanting to jump ship and head to a contender, he will have to think very carefully. At times it does work out, but Matt Duchene is definitely a cautionary tale. 

In November 2022, the five year anniversary of the trade, I wrote about the famous deal on Vocal:

https://vocal.media/unbalanced/the-matt-duchene-trade-5-years-later