Announcement confirms Maple Leafs to receive big advantage over the Blackhawks

At a time when the Toronto Maple Leafs could really use a win to boost their confidence, an announcement from the Chicago Blackhawks had made that far more likely.

The Blackhawks have announced that young star and former first overall draft pick Connor Bedard has been placed on injured reserve.

It's not long-term injured reserve, so Bedard's stay on the sidelines may not extend more than 2 or 3 weeks. However, it guarantees he won't play tomorrow night against the Maple Leafs, and can't get back into Chicago's lineup until this weekend at the earliest.

Bedard was hurt at the very end of a Blackhawks' victory over the St. Louis Blues Friday. He left the ice clutching his shoulder in what seemed like a bit of a freak accident.

While no one is celebrating Bedard's injury, his absence tonight is a huge opportunity for the Maple Leafs to get a much needed win and another two points as a recent graph from Money Puck showed just how much trouble the team is in right now.

In his third year in the league, Bedard is on pace to shatter his previous offensive highs, which were already pretty good.

To be fair, the Blackhawks have other offensive threats, but the team is not a deep one as its rebuild continues, and the Maple Leafs really should be able to take advantage of an unfortunate situation for the Hawks.

Defenceman Morgan Reilly cooked his team after an embarrassing loss to Oilers Saturday, so hopefully they were paying attention and the group comes out determined to get back into the win column.