The Chicago Blackhawks have received some bad news that will affect them for the start of the season. News emerged on Wednesday afternoon that has Connor Bedard out for four months. Bedard will be out due to shoulder surgery in an announcement made by the team on Wednesday. The team is hoping for the youngster to return in November.
Connor Bedard likely to miss at least the first month of the season after shoulder surgery: www.nytimes.com/athletic/743…
— Mark Lazerus (@marklazerus.bsky.social) 2026-07-08T19:18:28.019Z
Chicago Blackhakws Connor Bedard Out Four Months
Bedard was injured on July 2 while practicing in Vancouver. The soon-to-be 21-year-old missed 12 games last season after sustaining an injury to his right shoulder on Dec. 12 against the St Louis Blues.
The North Vancouver native tallied a career-high 30 goals and 45 assists for 75 points in 69 games. Bedard averaged 20 minutes and 52 seconds of ice time, which was over 30 seconds from his previous career average. The Calder Trophy winner in 2023-24 had a Corsi for of 50.9 and a relative Corsi of 8.6.
Bedard has 75 goals and 128 assists for 203 points in 219 career picks. Chicago originally took him with the number one overall selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. He was the first player to be given exceptional player status in the WHL when he was given that designation in 2020.
He’s also represented his native Canada at the international level. Bedard won back-to-back gold medals as part of the Canadian team at the 2023 and 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships.
(Credit Image: © Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune via ZUMA Press Wire)
What It Means
This offseason has turned into an even bigger one for the Blackhawks star. Bedard is still a restricted free agent that needs to sign a new contract. However, general manager Kyle Davidson offered no update on how talks are going between the two sides.
With Connor Bedard out, the Blackhawks are going to have to rely on Frank Nazar, Bowen Byram, and others to pick up the scoring slack. Chicago has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs the last few seasons and there was hope the team would finally get moving forward.
However, Bedard’s injury puts the Blackhawks into a mess of trouble even before the start of the season. It’s going to be an uphill climb with Connor Bedard out of the lineup.
Main photo by: Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images
