On Thursday afternoon, the Chicago Blackhawks got some mostly ominous news out of Connor Bedard’s practice session in Vancouver. Ryan McGregor, host of postgame show Blackhawks conversation, posted on X that Bedard left practice holding his left shoulder in a way that “closely resembled the incident in December.”
As a reminder, Bedard’s shoulder injury—note that that one was on the right side, and this is on the left—sidelined him for a total of 12 games. This time, he won’t be so lucky. After nearly a week of uncertainty and radio silence, Blackhawks team physician Dr. Michael Terry said the following:
“This morning, forward Connor Bedard underwent successful surgery to repair his left shoulder. We expect him to make a full recovery in an approximate timeline of four months.”
Four months? That would mean Bedard will be ready to get back into the lineup in mid-November. Granted, we’ve always seen him back on the ice earlier than we expect, but he’s pretty much guaranteed to miss all of training camp, preseason, and some of the regular season.
🔥 Subscribe to the Untold Chicago YouTube channel to hear Chicago legends tell stories you’ve never seen in headlines — real moments, real experiences, straight from the athletes themselves.
The NHL schedule doesn’t come out until next Thursday, but with the league moving to an 84-game schedule, games are scheduled to start in September for the first time ever. Four months from now, the Blackhawks will have played 13-14 games. Bedard missed 14 games in his rookie season due to a fractured jaw.
The timing of the injury is intriguing with Bedard and the Blackhawks having yet to reach a contract extension, which is expected to make him the highest-paid player in franchise history. It would be a good-faith move from the team to not even bring his injury up in negotiations, and could go a long way toward keeping the relationship between team and player in good health. However, hockey is a business, so we’ll have to see what the rumor mill turns out. It won’t be a good look if this injury plays a factor whatsoever in negotiations, even with Bedard missing part of his first regular season under the new deal.
