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Connor Bedard placed on IR with broken jaw after taking huge hit from Brendan Smith

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Connor Bedard, the NHL’s premier rookie, will miss time for the Chicago Blackhawks. Bedard was taken out of Friday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils by a high hit from New Jersey Devils defenseman Brendan Smith.

The Blackhawks announced on Saturday that Bedard’s jaw was broken and the 18-year-old was placed on injured reserve. Through 39 games in his rookie campaign, Bedard has racked up 33 points (15g, 18a) and leads all NHL rookies in scoring.

The hit in question occurred with the Blackhawks on a power play just over the midway point of the first period. Bedard raced into the Devils’ zone on an entry attempt and was hit by Smith at the top of the right circle.

The generational talent immediately went down clutching at his face while Smith was engaged by several angry Blackhawks players. Veteran Nick Foligno got to Smith in the ensuing scrum and then later, just seconds after another unrelated fight, squared off with Smith early in the second period.

Foligno ended up breaking his finger in the melee and the Blackhawks also placed him on IR alongside Bedard. The game, which ended up 4-2 in favor of the Devils, featured 64 total penalty minutes. Seven of the penalties were for roughing, four for fighting, and there was a game misconduct handed out to Chicago’s Alex Vlasic for instigating.

The only penalty that Smith received for the initial Bedard hit was a roughing minor that came from his battle behind the net with Foligno. Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson seemed to agree with the non-call postgame despite his star being on the receiving end.

“I don’t know if it was dirty,” Richardson said. “Connor was reaching for a puck and didn’t see [Smith] because he was behind another one of their players. I don’t think he stepped up on him, I think he just kinda stopped and Connor ran headfirst right into him. I don’t think it was intent to hit. I think he was just playing hard on the blueline and trying to keep the puck out on the penalty kill.”

After the dust settled and Bedard and Foligno were placed on IR, the Blackhawks came out of the night with now 11 total players currently out with injury.

Per The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus, the Blackhawks’ cap hit on injured reserve ($35.4 million) is now larger than the cap hit on their active roster ($32.3 million). To help out with their injury crisis, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Chicago plucked former Washington Capitals winger Zach Sanford off of waivers from the Arizona Coyotes.

Bedard was also recently chosen to be Chicago’s representative at the upcoming 2024 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto. The first overall pick from the 2023 NHL Draft was slated to be one of the event’s biggest attractions. Now it’s unclear if he’ll be able to participate.

All-Star Weekend begins on February 1 with the player draft. According to Sportsnet, a fractured jaw typically takes five to six weeks to recover from for players in the NHL.

Chicago will suffer without their star center as they were already losers of five consecutive games and are dead last in the Central Division with an 11-26-2 record.

Headline photo: Katie Adler/RMNB

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