Connor Bedard was back on the ice with the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, and while the sight of him in practice mattered, the details matter even more: he was still wearing a non-contact sweater.
Chicago did not practice Sunday after opening the season with a 0-3-0 road trip, but the team got back to work ahead of Tuesday night’s home opener against the St. Louis Blues. Bedard skated before practice and then stayed out for the full session with his teammates, which marked a clear step forward as he continues recovering from shoulder surgery.
Even so, head coach Jeff Blashill said after practice that Bedard has not been cleared for contact, and he does not know when that will change.
There was another notable return at practice, too. Bowen Byram was back after missing Saturday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres because of a family matter that turned out to be the birth of twin babies. Byram went right back onto the top pair alongside Artyom Levshunov.
The rest of the defense groups were Alex Vlasic with Ian Cole and Wyatt Kaiser with Sam Rinzel. That alignment suggests Rinzel is likely to get back into the lineup, with Ethan Del Mastro and Kevin Korchinski coming out.
Up front, the lines stayed the same as they were against Buffalo:
Kantserov-Nazar-Kane
Bertuzzi-Frondell-Teravainen
Donato-Moore-Lardis
Smith-Greene-Greenway
Bedard did spend some time skating in Teuvo Teravainen’s spot on the second line, but that was not presented as a permanent switch. It was simply a way to give Bedard the feeling of being back in a line during practice.
Teravainen, though, is under pressure to start making more of an impact. If Bedard is ready to return, Teravainen could be the one who comes out. Andrew Mangiapane is not an option there right now, either, since Blashill confirmed he is week-to-week.
Bedard still appears to have more time to go before he returns to game action, but the timeline is moving in the right direction. He is already well ahead of the mid-November estimate that was attached to the injury when it first happened.
For the Blackhawks, the task now is simple enough to say and hard to do: get the first win of the season, then build on it before Bedard is back. The last thing they want is for him to return while the team has already fallen too far behind.
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