Chicago Blackhawks place Connor Bedard on injured reserve; out until at least January

Bad news for the Chicago Blackhawks as it was announced that star forward Connor Bedard is out until at least early January in what has been deemed by the team as an upper-body injury. 

Bedard got injured at the end of Friday night's 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues when he attempted to win one final to give the Blackhawks a chance for a shot to tie the game and send it to overtime. However, Bedard was knocked down by Blues center Brayden Schenn. The 20-year-old immediately grabbed his right shoulder and was taken to the locker room. 

Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said Bedard wanted to return next week, but the team had to calm him down and shut him down until the beginning of 2026. Surgery isn't being discussed.

"We'll get through the new year and then kind of reevaluate and see where he's at," Blashill said after practice.

Currently, Bedard leads the Blackhawks with 19 goals and 25 assists in just 31 games. 

"Nobody's going to replace Connor on their own," Blashill said. "We need to be better defensively. We're going to have to score those net-front-type goals, the tip-type goals. We're not going to score from distance the way Connor can score from distance at a regular rate, so we're going to have to make sure we're scoring dirtier."

The Blackhawks (13-13-6, 32 points) return to the ice on Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs for the start of a three-game road trip.

With Bedard out, the Blackhawks recalled defenseman Ethan Del Mastro and goaltender Laurent Brossoit from Rockford of the American Hockey League.

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