CHICAGO — Connor Bedard will miss the rest of December for the Chicago Blackhawks, coach Jeff Blashill announced Monday.
The 20-year-old center sustained an upper-body injury with one second left in the third period of a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Friday while taking a face-off. Blues center Brayden Schenn went in for a stick lift and knocked into Bedard, who fell backward to the ice. He was clutching his right shoulder as he headed toward the locker room. Bedard has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Dec. 12.
Bedard leads the Blackhawks (13-13-6) with 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists) in 31 games, which ranks fourth in the NHL. The No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, he is a potential candidate to play for Team Canada at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
“First of all, Brayden Schenn’s a really good hockey player; he’s not trying to do damage to him there,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said prior to a 4-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. “He literally, Connor gets injured before any push happens, to be honest with you. So, it really had no bearing on the play.
“It’s super unfortunate — 0.8 seconds left, we didn’t foresee that happening. That’s the way it goes. That’s the way life goes sometimes.”
Chicago, which begins a three-game road trip at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; TSN4, CHSN), recalled goalie Laurent Brossoit from his conditioning assignment and defenseman Ethan Del Mastro from Rockford of the American Hockey League.
Nick Lardis was also recalled from Rockford and made his NHL debut Saturday. Lardis, who logged 15:32 of ice time against Detroit, has 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) in 24 AHL games this season.
Bedard had 67 points (23 goals, 44 assists) in 82 games last season and 61 points (39 goals, 61 assists) in 68 games in 2023-24 when he won the Calder Trophy, awarded annually to the League’s top rookie. He missed 14 games in his rookie season with a fractured jaw he sustained in January 2024.
