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Devastating news rocked the Chicago Blackhawks’ world on Wednesday afternoon, as the team announced that star center Connor Bedard underwent successful surgery on his left shoulder. The 20-year-old is set to miss approximately four months while recovering, meaning he’s in line to miss the beginning of the 2026-27 NHL regular season.
Injury Update on Connor Bedardpic.twitter.com/v1SXNAdSp8
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 8, 2026
With the league moving to an 84-game regular season this year, the opening games will now be held in late September, rather than early October. Bedard could miss up to a month or more before returning from his latest injury, as he’s projected to come back in early-to-mid November.
Bedard suffered the injury on July 2 while participating in an on-ice training session in Vancouver alongside fellow NHL players such as Buffalo Sabres’ forward Zach Benson and San Jose Sharks prospect Luca Cagnoni. During a drill, Bedard fell awkwardly into the boards and injured his left shoulder, the opposite shoulder he hurt in December against the St. Louis Blues. Bedard was visibly in pain and holding his arm as he exited the ice.
Video of the incident surfaced shortly after Blackhawks blogger Ryan McGregor reported that Bedard lost his balance and fell during a Kaivo Hockey training session.
When Bedard injured his right shoulder against St. Louis on Dec. 12, he elected not to undergo surgery and missed just under one month. This new injury appears more severe based on the timeline given by team physician Dr. Michael Terry on Wednesday. Both coming via freak accidents only adds salt to the wound, as the face of the franchise now has two hampered shoulders before even turning 21. Neither was his fault whatsoever.
For a player with the elite shooting mechanics that Bedard possesses, a pair of shoulder injuries is certainly not ideal. Not to be forgotten also is the broken jaw he suffered during his rookie campaign, which now marks three serious injuries sustained in less than four years in the league.
Another interesting wrinkle is that Bedard still needs a new contract as a restricted free agent this summer, and the recent offer sheet signed by fellow 2023 draft pick Leo Carlsson could make the Blackhawks somewhat uneasy. While Bedard has remained committed to the franchise and likely won’t sign an offer sheet himself, it’s a new and unknown world in the fast-rising salary-cap era. There isn’t any real reason for the Blackhawks to be in a rush to finalize his extension, but getting a move on wouldn’t hurt.
But Bedard’s new injury only makes matters more complicated, even though both parties are surely focused more on the long, long term, rather than just the next three to four months.
Without Bedard to start this upcoming season, the Blackhawks are likely to be behind the eight ball early in the standings, which is not where they want to be. Getting enough offensive support and winning games has been a severe struggle without Bedard in the lineup since he arrived in 2023-24. There’s both external and internal pressure for the organization to make strides in its rebuild this year, and Bedard being out for the first month is not going to help that matter.
As for the Blackhawks lineup adjustments, expect either rookie Anton Frondell or Frank Nazar to hop into the first-line center spot in place of Bedard. The new crop of young players was already needing to make a major impact this season for the Hawks to have the growth they anticipate, and that’s even more true now. First-year forward Roman Kantserov will have to produce immediately in a top-six role to help pick up the slack early on, and the same goes for 21-year-olds Oliver Moore and Nick Lardis.
It’s worth pointing out that Bedard has a track record of returning earlier than initially expected from his injury timelines, but this time could be different. Even though the Blackhawks want to be more competitive this season, that can’t come at the risk of the rebuild’s prized jewel getting re-injured, especially with so much more at stake in the years to come.
When Bedard elected not to have surgery and returned early from his right shoulder injury last season, he didn’t produce at nearly the same elite rate from the first half. For the Blackhawks to ensure he’s fully healthy and at the top of his abilities when he comes back this time, it presumably means he won’t be game-ready until sometime in November.
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The post Blackhawks Star Connor Bedard Undergoes Surgery After Offseason Injury appeared first on Chicago Hockey Now.
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