Blackhawks Connor Bedard Suffers Broken Jaw, Placed on IR

This is a brutal blow for the Blackhawks. While they had no chance at making the playoffs anyway, they are now deprived of their best player and biggest draw. 

Bedard broke his jaw after taking a hit from Brendan Smith, who later fought Nick Foligno. Bedard clutched his jaw after the hit and immediately left the ice, and the Hawks confirmed the bad news Saturday.

Foligno was also placed on IR with a fractured finger, bringing the total number of Hawks on IR to nine:

Taylor Hall (knee) - out for the season
Tyler Johnson (undisclosed) - no return date set
Andreas Athanasiou (lower body) - week-to-week
Anthony Beauvillier (wrist) - week-to-week
Taylor Raddysh (lower body) - no return date set
Joey Anderson (shoulder) - no return date set
Seth Jones (upper body) - no return date set 
Nick Foligno (finger) - week-to-week
Connor Bedard (jaw) - no return date set

The good news for fantasy managers is that, especially in keeper leagues, Bedard's peak fantasy value will be realized years from now. 

If you were depending on him to win your league, it was unlikely to happen being a rookie – as excellent as he may be – on a bad team. 

But what's next for the Hawks? 

For starters, feel free to stream any player or goalie against them. The Hawks will have a ton of trouble scoring without Bedard, and their defensive and goaltending woes are already well-known. That includes the Sharks, who have three games remaining against the Hawks. 

And what about their fantasy value?

Expect Philipp Kurashev's offensive production to dive off. He's rode Bedard's success to 22 points in 32 games so far, and he remains their leading scorer, but I would be surprised if he even averaged half a point per game. 

Without Bedard, Jason Dickinson is the leading goal scorer with 13. He's shooting at an (unsustainable) career-best 21.3 percent, and that will come way down. He may make up for the lack of efficiency with more minutes, but he's not a player who can create offense by himself. 

The wild card is top prospect Lukas Reichel, but he has been very inconsistent this season and may not have earned the coaches' trust. Only if Reichel gets on a hot streak would he have much fantasy value. 

The long list of injured forwards means the Hawks may have to often play with more than six defensemen. Defensively, this may help, but offensively, it means they will really be capped. 

It's best to stay away from the Hawks while Bedard is out of the lineup, and to bet and play against them at any opportunity. This won't be a fail-safe strategy, but it's one of the surest bets. 

On another note, this also means the Calder race has opened up, with Adam Fantilli and Brock Faber looking to gain a lot of ground.