NHL to Be Without Its Rookie Phenom for Next Month’s All-Star Game

Chicago Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard will miss next month’s NHL All-Star Game after undergoing surgery on his jaw. 

The team announced Wednesday that Bedard had surgery to repair a broken jaw and will be sidelined for six to eight weeks. That timeline rules out the possibility that Bedard will be able to play in the All-Star Game in Toronto in three weeks. Bedard had been set to become the youngest player in NHL history to appear in the All-Star Game. The 18-year-old was named to the team last week and will be 58 days younger when the game is played than former Carolina Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner was when he played in the 2011 All-Star Game. 

Bedard was injured on Friday on an open-ice hit by New Jersey Devils defenseman Brendan Smith. Bedard’s teammate Nick Foligno retaliated by fighting Smith. Foligno, who fractured a finger in the fight and was placed on injured reserve, wasn’t the only Chicago player upset with Smith‘s hit. 

"I mean, everybody saw it. It’s dirty, so. I think it was dirty,” Boris Katchouk told reporters.

Bedard leads the Blackhawks with 33 points this season (15 goals and 18 assists), making him just the sixth 18-year-old in the last 30 years with at least 30 points in his first 39 career games. The Blackhawks, though, are still among the worst teams in the NHL. They have the second-worst record in the Western Conference.