Connor Bedard suffered a fractured jaw back on January 5th, when he was hit high by New Jersey defenseman Brendan Smith. Surgery was required to fix the damage, and Bedard had to put his Calder Trophy dreams on hold.
According to reports, Bedard had an imaging scan on Wednesday and received encouraging news. As of Noon today, Bedard and the team consulted with doctors to see if he could be cleared for action for tonight's game when the Blackhawks host the Pittsburgh Penguins at the United Center. Bedard did practice with the team yesterday but wore the green "No Contact" jersey.
NHL Network's Kevin Weekes was one of the first to report the possibility of Bedard's return earlier today:
"I’m told there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing Bedard 98 is making his return to the lineup tonight for the blackhawks."
Bedard's return is great news for the Blackhawks. Their offense has struggled to put the puck in the net since Bedard's injury. The Hawks have only scored 21 goals in their last 14 games. An average of just 1.5 goals per game.
Bedard WILL Be In The Lineup Tonight!
According to sources and being reported by NBC Sports Chicago and the CHGO network, Bedard will return to the ice tonight.
The all-world rookie has not had any contact since his injury. Bedard may not be able to stay on the ice for almost 20 minutes immediately, but his return couldn't come at a better time for a team in desperate need of good news.
