- Blackhawks say Connor Bedard had surgery on his left shoulder and needs about four months to recover
- Bedard, who turns 21 on July 17, will miss the start of the 2026-27 season
- Read below for the timeline, his RFA contract situation, and what it means for Chicago
The Blackhawks got the news nobody in Chicago wanted on their franchise center.
Connor Bedard had surgery on his left shoulder and will miss the start of the 2026-27 season, the team announced Wednesday. He hurt the shoulder while practicing in Vancouver on July 2, and the Blackhawks say he needs about four months to recover.
Four months puts his return somewhere around early November, so he will be watching the opening weeks from the press box. Chicago first flagged the injury after that Vancouver skate, and now there is a timeline to go with it.
The kid was Chicago’s best player again last season. Bedard led the team with 75 points, 30 goals and 45 assists in 69 games. He is up to 203 points in 219 career games since going first overall in the 2023 draft, and he won the Calder as the league’s top rookie in 2023-24.
He turns 21 on July 17. That is a rough way to spend a birthday week.
There is a contract layer to this too. Bedard is a restricted free agent and has been eligible to sign an extension with Chicago since last July. GM Kyle Davidson said last week the two sides were “not there yet” on a new deal. Shoulder surgery does not blow that up, but it is not the backdrop either side wanted heading into talks.
Injuries are nothing new for him. He missed 12 games last season with an upper-body issue after a Brayden Schenn stick lift sent him down on a faceoff, and he lost 14 games as a rookie with a fractured jaw.
Chicago has spent two years building around Bedard, and now the first stretch of Year 3 goes on without him. The Blackhawks will lean on their young forwards to hold the fort until he is cleared.
