Blackhawks Forced To Recruit Veteran Player To Keep Eye On Bedard During Injury Recovery

Now the team has had to contain him after his recent jaw injury has forced him to take some time off the ice.

Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, Bedard suffered a serious injury in his last game when he fractured his jaw on a clean hit from Devils defenseman Brendan Smith.

The team has since given him a 6-8 weeks timeline for his return. This means that the rookie centerman will not be able to participate at the NHL All-Star game but perhaps more importantly, he will miss a significant number of games for the team as well. Apparently though, he is so eager to return to the ice that the team doctors had to recruit Nick Foligno to help keep him away from the rink.

There is no doubt that the rookie center was the favorite to win the Calder trophy as rookie of the year before he fractured his jaw. His 15 goals and 33 points lead all rookies. However, if he misses 20 or more games with this injury, other players could potentially pass him in scoring.

Furthermore, voters might be less inclined to vote for a player who missed a quarter of the season. This could be similar to Connor McDavid's rookie season in which he lost the Calder race after he missed half the season with an injury. That being said, Bedard should at the very least still be in the conversation by the time he returns from the injury and if he can pick up the scoring pace right where he left off, then he should still be able to earn the reward.

As seen on Chicago Blackhawks Ask Veteran Nick Foligno To Keep Connor Bedard From Breaking The Teams Rules