Blackhawks make devastating announcement regarding rookie sensation Connor Bedard

Upon receiving the hit, Bedard exited the game immediately, playing just over 3 minutes in the first period. Originally, Hawks coach Luke Richardson had indicated that Bedard would be out awhile, but we didn't know just how long until this morning.

Per the Blackhawks' official Twitter/X account, the 18-year-old superstar was forced to undergo surgery to repair the damage to his jaw and will miss the next 6-8 weeks as a result of his injury, likely putting his Calder Trophy bid in jeopardy.

Unfortunately, Bedard's timeline for recovery will also mean that he'll miss the All-Star Game at the start of next month. Very tough news or Blackhawks fans and NHL fans indeed.

Bedard has taken the NHL by storm in his rookie season, far exceeding expectations, racking up a staggering 15 goals and 33 points in 39 as an 18-year-old, which would have put him around 70 points. For reference, the 3 most recent Calder Trophy winners, Matty Beniers (2023), Mortiz Seider (2022), and Kirill Kaprizov (2021) put up a 57, 50 and 51 points, respectively, in the years that they won the award. In other words, Bedard is on a whole other level.

Including Bedard, the Hawks now have 7 NHL regulars on injured reserve, including Seth Jones, Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno, Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Beauvillier and Tyler Johnson.