Connor Bedard & Nick Foligno Place on IR as Things Go From Bad to Worse

The Chicago Blackhawks returned to the Fifth Third Arena Saturday morning after a nine-day, five-game road trip from hell. The trip wasn’t awful because they only got one point out of a possible 10. It was a disaster because a team already riddled with injuries lost five key forwards in five games.

Taylor Raddysh was the first to go down in Dallas. In the next game against the Stars, Tyler Johnson left and never returned. In Nashville, Anthony Beauvillier left after getting his after smashed into the boards. The Blackhawks escaped injury against the New York Rangers but doubled down the next night in New Jersey when both Connor Bedard and Nick Foligno were lost to injury against the Devils.

On Saturday morning, the Blackhawks placed Bedard (fractured jaw) and Foligno (fractured left index finger) on injured reserve. For reference, Columbus Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner broke his jaw on Dec. 9 and skated with the team for the first time this morning. Everybody heals differently, but that’s a good reference point for the injury.

In other news, the Blackhawks acquired forward Rem Pitlick from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Pitlick, 26, has eight goals and 24 points in 32 AHL games this season. He has 123 games of NHL experience with the Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, and Montreal Canadiens with 15 goals and 37 points. He played a career-high 66 games for the Canadiens in 2021-22 when Luke Richardson was an assistant.

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