Connor Bedard is getting close to a return, and the Chicago Blackhawks could use it in the worst way.
Head coach Jeff Blashill said today that Bedard is “trending” toward playing tomorrow against the Pittsburgh Penguins, according to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Blackhawks captain has been rehabbing offseason shoulder surgery and still hasn’t made his 2026-27 debut, but the signs have pointed this way for a bit. He was a non-contact participant in practice a week ago, then moved into full contact yesterday.
For a team that sits 30th in the standings with a 1-5-0 record, that’s a massive development. Bedard is the obvious engine in Chicago, its No. 1 center and most gifted player.
The 2023 No. 1 overall pick followed a breakout season last year with stretches this fall where he was battling fellow young star Macklin Celebrini for the league scoring lead. A shoulder issue sent him to IR last December and knocked him off that pace, but he still finished with 30 goals and 75 points in 69 games.
Now the Blackhawks need him back in the middle of everything, and they’ll be hoping his arrival jolts the group into a much-needed turnaround.
Elsewhere in the Central Division, Winnipeg may have to wait a little longer for Josh Morrissey. Scott Arniel said Morrissey is still day-to-day and questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Wild, per Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press.
Morrissey missed Friday’s loss to the Anaheim Ducks with an upper-body injury, and his absence showed. Neal Pionk filled in as Winnipeg’s top defenseman and logged just over 25 minutes, but the night didn’t go smoothly.
Morrissey’s value to the Jets is hard to overstate. He’s their clear No. 1 defenseman and handles a heavy load in every situation, so his status looms large as Winnipeg tries to build on its early-season momentum.
Dallas also got some encouraging injury news. Glen Gulutzan said today, via Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News, that Radek Faksa and Joel Kiviranta are both expected to be available for tomorrow’s game against the Colorado Avalanche.
Kiviranta has been out for Dallas’ last two-game road trip because of a lower-body injury. Faksa suffered a lower-body injury on Saturday and missed the loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Faksa is the Stars’ settled fourth-line center, while Kiviranta has been competing with Colin Blackwell and Oskar Back for a spot in the bottom six.
In Other News...
Stars Suddenly Face A Matt Duchene Problem They Cant Ignore
The Stars early-season forward depth just took another hit, with Jim Nill confirming that Matt Duchene had surgery to repair a core injury. Duchene has been one of the more important pieces of Dallas attack since arriving, and his absence now stretches back to training camp, when an upper-body injury first kept him from getting on the ice.
For a team trying to stay on track in a competitive Western Conference, losing a top-six forward for this long changes the look of the lineup and adds more pressure elsewhere in the rotation. Duchene is only in the second season of his four-year extension, so Dallas is suddenly staring at a situation that affects both the present and the bigger picture around one of its key veterans. [Read more 🡒]
Tyler Seguin May Be Giving The Stars What They Desperately Need
Tyler Seguins night against the Penguins felt like more than a timely finish for Dallas. Returning from ACL surgery after a difficult recovery and a limited season so far, Seguin gave the Stars a reminder of what he can still supply when they need it most. The timing mattered, too, because Dallas has been leaning harder on its remaining forwards with injuries thinning the lineup.
Seguin snapped his scoring drought in a way the Stars will want to remember, first by helping force the game deeper into the night and then by coming through in the shootout. It was his first goal since Nov. 15, 2025, and if this is the start of him settling back into a bigger role, Dallas could use every bit of it while the forward group waits to get healthier. [Read more 🡒]
Glen Gulutzan Sounds Off As Stars Face An Early Edge Test
After two straight shutout wins, the Stars ran into a much messier night against the Penguins, and it left Glen Gulutzan with plenty to sort through afterward. Dallas still had its structure in place, but the edge that carried the team through the early stretch was harder to find in a game that slipped into a shootout.
Gulutzan was candid about the effort level and even wondered whether giving the group a day off before the game might have dulled the edge a bit. For a team trying to build on a strong opening run, that kind of early checkpoint matters, especially with the schedule already forcing quick resets and with other league storylines, from Igor Shesterkins season-ending injury to Sebastian Ahos fast start, continuing to shift the backdrop around the Stars. [Read more 🡒]