Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson met the media ahead of Friday’s game vs the Minnesota Wild, and informed the beat that goaltender Laurent Brossoit would miss six more weeks after undergoing a second procedure on his injured knee.
“He’s had another procedure…just a cleanup after the first one,” Richardson said. “So, unfortunately, that set it back…we don’t have a full timeline…but it will probably be around six weeks.”
UPDATE 12:27 pm Friday: A Blackhawks spokesperson clarified the situation. “Brossoit underwent a follow-up arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and will be re-evaluated in six weeks.”
Brossoit, who signed a two-year, $3.3 million AAV deal with the Blackhawks this summer, has yet to play a game for the team this season. He underwent meniscus surgery on his right knee on Tuesday, August 27th. At that point, the diagnosis was five to seven weeks. Now, 14 weeks and three days later, he’s undergone a second procedure, adding another six weeks.
On November 20th, I asked Richardson if Brossoit had suffered a setback. We had seen him on the ice for a week or two, and he seemed close to returning. Then he disappeared again. Richardson replied, “I don’t think there’s a setback, right yet. I just don’t have any new updates on him, unfortunately. The good thing is [Söderblom] had played well for us this year, and it’s letting him the chance to not rush back. Hopefully soon, we can give you more of a definite update timeline.”
Richardson is correct. Söderblom has been fantastic as Petr Mrazek‘s backup this season, which was a luxury the Blackhawks probably weren’t counting on headed into the year. However, this new delay for Brossoit virtually guarantees that Söderblom will play four more games. After that happens, he would have to clear waivers to be sent to Rockford, as my partner Mario Tirabassi outlined earlier this week.
Söderblom currently sits at 56 career NHL appearances. If he were to appear in four more games, he would require going through waivers if/when Brossoit returns.
Mario Tirabassi
Söderblom’s play does lessen the blow of Brossoit’s diagnosis, but it does take one of the organization’s more attractive trade assets off the table for at least six more weeks.
