National Hockey League rookie all-star Connor Bedard of North Vancouver, British Columbia is out long term with a broken jaw. He suffered the injury on Friday and will be out long term.
How did the injury happen?
Bedard received a first period hit from New Jersey Devils defenseman Brendan Smith of Toronto, Ontario on Friday in a 4-2 Chicago loss. At the time of the injury, Bedard only played four shifts and three minutes and five seconds of ice time, and won one of two faceoff attempts.
NHL All-Star appearance in Jeopardy
Bedard was to represent the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2024 National Hockey League All-Star game in Toronto on February 3. That appearance is in jeopardy now. The estimated time that Bedard will be out of the lineup for is four to six weeks. Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson knew that Bedard was not really ok when he saw him after receiving the hit.
Bedard was one of eight NHL players that are scheduled to make their All-Star debut in 2023-24. He is joined by Oliver Bjorkstrand of the Seattle Kraken, Boone Jenner of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Elias Lindholm of the Calgary Flames, Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars, Sam Reinhart of the Florida Panthers, Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues, and Frank Vatrano of the Anaheim Ducks.
First Overall Pick
There is a lot of hype surrounding Bedard this season. He is expected to be the game’s next big superstar and be the face of the Chicago Blackhawks for the next decade.
Bedard’s 2023-24 NHL Statistics
Bedard has 15 goals and 18 assists for 33 points in 39 games. He is a -22 with 12 penalty minutes, eight power-play points, two game-winning goals, 118 shots on goal. 134 faceoff wins, 13 blocked shots, 22 hits, 31 takeaways, and 32 giveaways. The game-winning goals came in a 5-3 Blackhawks win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on November 9, and in a 2-1 Blackhawks win over the Winnipeg Jets on December 27.
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