Chicago Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard has been placed on injured reserve with a fractured jaw the team announced on Saturday.
The 18 year old rookie exited in the first period of Chicago’s 4-2 loss to New Jersey after taking a hard hit from defensemen Brendan Smith. Making matters worse, forward Nick Foligno also suffered a fractured finger and will be placed on IR as well, adding to the Blackhawks extensive list of injuries.
“We’re not sure how long [Connor] and Nick will be,” coach Luke Richardson said afterwards. “It’s just so fresh today, this morning, to get our people to look at them and make decisions going forward.”
When asked by reporters if he felt the hit was dirty, Richardson replied “I think Connor was reaching for a puck and didn’t see him, because he was behind one of their players. I don’t think he stepped up on Connor. I think he kind of stopped and Connor ran headfirst into him. I don’t think there was intent [to injure]. I think he was just playing hard on the blue line and trying to keep the puck out on the penalty kill.”
Foligno is believed to have injured his finger in a fight with Smith later in the game. Overall, the matchup saw 64 total minutes in penalties handed out as Chicago clearly took exception to losing their star forward.
Bedard was in the midst of a solid rookie campaign leading all rookie skaters in goals and assists, and earning an NHL All-Star selection earlier this week. Currently without a timeline to return, suddenly that All-Star appearance on February 3rd is in jeopardy of becoming a reality.
Other Blackhawks forwards currently out due to injury include Anthony Beauvillier (left wrist), Tyler Johnson (right foot), Taylor Raddysh (groin), Joey Anderson (left shoulder) and Andreas Athanasiou (groin). Taylor Hall, who underwent knee surgery a few weeks prior, will miss the remainder of the season, while Seth Jones is also on IR with a shoulder injury.
As a result, Chicago now has more money currently on IR than they have in active NHL salary. The Blackhawks are next in action on Sunday vs. the Calgary Flames.
Photo: Jenn G. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.