Connor Bedard News

Bedard has not played since the beginning of January after taking a heavy open-ice hit from the Devils' Brendan Smith, forcing him to leave the game. The 18-year-old Bedard was having a solid rookie campaign with 33 points (15G / 18A) in 39 games and was well on track to capturing the Calder Trophy before his injury. Bedard will return to receiving top-line and top-powerplay deployment immediately when he returns to the Blackhawks' lineup on Thursday.

Bedard has not played since the beginning of January after taking a heavy open-ice hit from the Devils' Brendan Smith, forcing him to leave the game. The 18-year-old Bedard was having a solid rookie campaign with 33 points (15G / 18A) in 39 games and was well on track to capturing the Calder Trophy before his injury. Bedard will likely return to receiving top-line and top-powerplay deployment immediately when he returns to the Blackhawks' lineup on Thursday.

Bedard has not played since the beginning of January after taking a heavy open-ice hit from the Devils' Brendan Smith, forcing him to leave the game. The 18-year-old Bedard was having a solid rookie campaign with 33 points (15G / 18A) in 39 games and was well on track to capturing the Calder Trophy before his injury. Bedard will return to receiving top-line and top-powerplay deployment when he returns to the Blackhawks' lineup.

The Blackhawks will be without rookie phenom Bedard for the next 6-8 weeks after successfully undergoing surgery on Monday. Bedard took a heavy open-ice hit from the Devils' Brendan Smith in the first period of Friday's game and did not return. In addition to being out for the next several weeks, Bedard will also be unable to compete at the All-Star game. Bedard's absence further hurts an already injury-depleted Blackhawks roster, whose active scoring leader is now Philipp Kurashev, who has only 23 points (8G / 15A) in 34 games.

Bedard took a heavy open-ice hit from the Devils' Brendan Smith in the first period of Friday's game and did not return. We should expect to receive an update on the injury and a possible timeline for his return to the lineup following the completion of Friday's game.

Bedard was selected with the first-overall pick of the 2023 draft and has signed a three-year, entry-level contract on his 18th birthday. The generationally talented centre is coming off a historic season in the WHL which saw his score 71 goals and 143 points across 57 regular season games.