Chicago’s NHL team placed rookie centre Connor Bedard on injured reserve Saturday with a broken jaw.
Bedard got hurt when he was levelled by New Jersey defenceman Brendan Smith midway through the first period of Friday night’s 4-2 loss to the Devils.
Nick Foligno also went on IR with a broken left finger, adding another name to Chicago’s long list of injured forwards. In desperate need of reinforcements, the club added a pair of forwards by acquiring Rem Pitlick in a trade with Pittsburgh and claiming Zach Sanford off waivers from Arizona.
“We’re not sure how long [Bedard] and Nick will be,” head coach Luke Richardson said. “It’s just so fresh today, this morning, to get our people to look at them and make decisions going forward.”
The 18-year-old Bedard has been Chicago’s best player in his first NHL season, living up to the hype after he was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft. Heading into Saturday’s action, he was leading all NHL rookies with a team-high 15 goals and 18 assists in 39 games.
While there was no word on a timeline for Bedard’s return, the injury takes him out of the team’s upcoming game in his hometown of Vancouver on Jan. 22. It also means he likely will miss the Feb. 3 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto, dealing a blow to the league.
“It’s definitely hard to kind of wrap our heads around,” teammate Ryan Donato said. “It’s so fresh still for us, to realize what’s going on. But we hope the best for him and hopefully we can keep him positive and keep the guys positive.”
Bedard was hit after he carried the puck into the offensive zone. Smith was not penalized on the play, but there was a series of skirmishes between the teams after Bedard departed.
Connor Bedard went to the locker room following this hit from Brendan Smith. <a href=”https://t.co/OUZyKCBCRx”>pic.twitter.com/OUZyKCBCRx</a>
—@Sportsnet
Foligno, who has served as one of Bedard’s mentors in the veteran’s first season in Chicago, left the game after he fought with Smith in the second.
“I don’t know how many fights he’s been in this year, but of course it’s this one that he goes and gets hurt,” Dickinson said. “He’s tough, so I don’t think it’ll hold him out very long. As soon as he’s strong enough to hold a stick I’m sure he’ll be out there with us.”
Chicago has dropped five in a row, seven of eight and is 6-19-2 in its 27 games under Richardson, in his second season behind the team’s bench.
Chicago forward Boris Katchouk told reporters he felt it was a dirty hit but Richardson wasn’t convinced.
“I didn’t really see it too many times yet,” the coach said. “I just saw it quick on the bench. I don’t know if it was dirty. I think Connor was reaching for a puck and didn’t see him because he was behind one of their players. I don’t think he stepped up on him. I think he just kind of stopped and Connor kind of ran head-first into him.
“He obviously banged his head. We’ll get him checked out at home by our specialists to see if everything is OK.”
<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Devils?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Devils</a> Smith, Big Dman had elbows down, no head pick, does not leave his feet, textbook open ice hit. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Blackhawks?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Blackhawks</a> Bedard, high value player, impact and result very unfortunate. <br>It’s a clean hit. Period. End of Story. Doesn’t change that it’s an UNFORTUNATE RESULT, but 100%… <a href=”https://t.co/nllhve5674″>pic.twitter.com/nllhve5674</a>
—@NHL_AaronWard
‘That was just a solid hit’
Devils bench boss Lindy Ruff felt Smith’s hit on Bedard was clean.
“It’s unfortunate where he got him” Ruff said. “At different times, all young players learn. … I learned the hard way, I got knocked out cold.
“You’ve got to be aware. There was no intent or anything. That was just a solid hit.”
Luke Richardson broke his jaw (took a slap shot to the face, “broke it right in half,” ) and had it wired shut as a player. He said he was out 5 1/2 weeks. Said it was a “pretty severe” one. Metal plates, 15 screws, etc.
—@MarkLazerus
After the all-star forward departed, there was a series of skirmishes between the teams.
Chicago defenceman Jarred Tinordi had words with Smith as the teams were skating off the ice after the first.
Blue-liner Alex Vlasic also fought with Devils forward Nathan Bastian as part of a general on-ice fracas with most of the crowd at Prudential Center to its feet.
At one point, there were four Chicago and three Devils in their respective penalty boxes.
Bedard and Foligno join a long list of injured players for last-place Chicago.
Fellow forwards Anthony Beauvillier (left wrist), Tyler Johnson (right foot), Taylor Raddysh (left groin strain), Joey Anderson (left shoulder) and Andreas Athanasiou (groin) are also out. Taylor Hall will miss the rest of the season after he had right knee surgery in November.
Seth Jones, the team’s best rearguard, is on IR with a shoulder injury. He hasn’t played since Dec. 10.
Pitlick, 26, has 21 goals and 54 points in 123 regular-season games with the Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild and Montreal Canadiens. He has eight goals and 24 points in 32 contests this season with Wilkes-Barre Scranton of the American Hockey League.
Sanford had no goals and two assists in 11 games with Arizona this season. He has 49 goals and 100 points in 316 NHL regular-season games.
With the deal, the Penguins now have nine picks in the 2026 draft.
Pittsburgh owns all seven of its selections in the draft as well as Chicago’s conditional seventh-round pick and an additional third-round choice acquired as part of the trade involving defenceman Erik Karlsson with the San Jose Sharks on Aug. 6.