Connor Bedard’s season will begin on the sideline, and the Blackhawks still don’t have a firm timetable for when their new captain will be back in the mix.
General manager Kyle Davidson told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that there’s no real update yet on Bedard, who has been out since injuring his left shoulder in early July during a freak accident on an off-season skate. Davidson said the team will “probably” have “new information” sometime in October, while head coach Jeff Blashill said last week that Bedard was not close to returning to practice.
That means Chicago will open tonight against the Golden Knights without the player who has led the team in scoring in each of the past three seasons. The club is expected to spend up to the cap and has playoff expectations, but it now has to manage the start of the season without its 1C. If Bedard is unable to return until sometime in mid-November, the Blackhawks will need to stay afloat through their first 20 games.
Bedard’s offseason has already packed in plenty. After posting two assists in the season finale against the Sharks last April, he suffered the shoulder injury in early July.
By mid-July, he had signed a five-year extension worth $15MM per season. Two weeks ago, he was named the 37th captain in team history.
And over the summer, Patrick Kane returned to Chicago to join the superstar, who just turned 21.
Colorado will also be short-handed when it opens its season tomorrow at Los Angeles. Corey Masisak of the Denver Post reports that Logan O’Connor and Zachary L’Heureux will both miss the game. Jared Bednar said the Avalanche will dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen, with Noah Juulsen serving as the extra defenseman.
L’Heureux, who was acquired from Nashville for Jack Drury in June, is dealing with a lower-body injury. The 23-year-old former first-round pick from 2021 has 20 points in 87 NHL games, but he also flashed real offense in the AHL last year with 28 points in 30 games for the Springfield Thunderbirds. Colorado sees untapped potential there, especially in a system that could help him unlock more of it.
O’Connor is a much more familiar absence for Avalanche fans. He’s been a fixture in the bottom six and an elite penalty killer over the past several seasons, though last year he was limited to 13 regular-season games after hip surgery. Bednar said his current lower-body injury appears to be day-to-day and not related.
In San Jose, Adam Gaudette is trending in the right direction. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News noted that the Sharks forward skated today as he continues recovering from an upper-body injury suffered two weeks ago.
The timing has been rough for the 29-year-old. Gaudette had fallen out of the NHL picture four years ago before resurrecting his career with 44 goals for the Springfield Thunderbirds in 2023-24.
He carried that momentum into Ottawa, where he scored 19 goals and then earned a two-year deal from San Jose worth $2MM per season. Now he’s part of a roster stocked with young forwards and several other middle-six options, with Kiefer Sherwood also occupying a spot on the fourth line as part of the team’s push toward contention.
Gaudette, who can take faceoffs regularly, is hoping to come off injured reserve and get back into the lineup as soon as Saturday against Los Angeles.
In Other News...
Avalanche Double Down On A Familiar Ball Arena Partner
A familiar presence around Ball Arena is sticking around for a while longer. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announced a three-year partnership renewal with KeyBank, keeping the bank tied closely to the Colorado Avalanche and giving it exclusive status as the teams Official Retail Bank Partner.
The deal goes beyond a logo on the building. KeyBank will hold naming rights to the KeyBank Ice Deck premium seating area, add a new KeyBank Small Business Spotlight program and sponsor select home openers and the Avalanche Alumni Game, giving the partnership a broader footprint throughout the season and a bigger place in the arena experience. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Just Made Their Commitment To Jared Bednar Crystal Clear
Jared Bednars place behind the Avalanche bench got a lot more secure this week, with Colorado signing its head coach to a four-year contract extension that will begin in the 2027-28 season. It is a clear endorsement of a coach who has already become the winningest in franchise history, both in the regular season and in the playoffs, and it comes as he prepares to enter his 11th season with the team.
For an organization that has spent years trying to stay in the NHLs upper tier, the move sends an unmistakable message about continuity and direction. Team president Joe Sakic and Bednar both struck a positive note about the extension and the future, but the bigger question now is how this long-term commitment will shape the next phase of Colorados push to keep contending. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Double Down On A Familiar Winner In Key Front Office Role
Andrew Coglianos rise inside the Avalanche organization keeps moving in a familiar direction. Colorado has promoted the former NHL forward to assistant general manager after he spent time as a special assistant to the general manager, a next-step move for a player who only recently finished a 17-year league career and ended it in Denver.
Coglianos path gives the Avalanche a front office voice with both recent locker room experience and a deep understanding of how the organization operates. He played for several NHL teams before joining Colorado, then helped the club win a Stanley Cup in the 2022-23 season, and now he takes on a bigger role as the Avalanche continue leaning on people who know firsthand what it takes to succeed there. [Read more 🡒]