CHICAGO (AP) — While Connor Bedard is out, the Chicago Blackhawks are hoping to replace his production with a collective approach.
It's going to be quite the challenge.
“It's going to be on everybody to step up and do their part,” center Jason Dickinson said.
That's the reality for Chicago with Bedard sidelined for at least two weeks because of an upper-body injury, dealing a major blow to his chances of making Team Canada for the Winter Olympics.
Bedard has turned into one of the NHL's top players in his third season since he was drafted No. 1 in 2023. The 20-year-old center has a team-high 19 goals and 25 assists in 31 games.
The Blackhawks open a three-game trip on Tuesday night at Toronto. They are 3-8-2 in their last 13 games.
“Obviously it sucks, but just need guys to step up and be able to make those plays that he'd make on a night in, night out basis,” center Frank Nazar said.
Bedard got hurt on a draw with 0.8 seconds left in Friday night’s 3-2 loss at St. Louis. He grasped at his right shoulder and immediately headed to the locker room, accompanied by a trainer.
He was placed on injured reserve on Monday.
“We'll get through the new year and then kind of reevaluate and see where he's at,” coach Jeff Blashill said after practice.
Blashill declined to get into any specifics with Bedard's injury, sticking to his upper-body designation. He said Bedard isn't going to have an operation or procedure right now, but he left open that possibility for down the road.
“Let’s start with the rehab and see where it goes and I’ll have a better update after that,” Blashill said.
Bedard was believed to be a long shot for Canada's roster for the Milan Cortina Olympics coming into the season. But he made a strong case with his fast start, and the injury robs him of an opportunity for a closing argument.
Canada is expected to announce its loaded roster before Bedard plays again for Chicago.
When it comes to the Blackhawks, Bedard's absence puts more pressure on Nazar, Tyler Bertuzzi and Ryan Donato to make the most of their offensive opportunities. Nick Lardis, who made his NHL debut in Saturday night's 4-0 loss to Detroit, also could help out.
Captain Nick Foligno also is nearing a return from his left hand injury. Blashill said Foligno could play on the team’s road trip.
“Nobody’s going to replace Connor on their own,” Blashill said. “Collectively, as a group, one, I think we needed to do this anyway, we need to be better defensively. ... We're going to have to score those net-front-type goals, the tip-type goals. We’re not going to score from distance the way Connor can score from distance at a regular rate, so we're going to have to make sure we’re scoring dirtier.”
Also Monday, defenseman Ethan Del Mastro and goaltender Laurent Brossoit were recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League.
Brossoit had been in the minors on a conditioning assignment. Blashill said Brossoit will be placed on waivers and will go back to Rockford if he clears.
Del Mastro, 22, has two goals and four assists in 27 career games with Chicago.
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Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (98) passes the puck against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will hear arguments over the Trump administration’s push to end legal protections for people fleeing war and natural disaster from countries around the world, including Haiti and Syria.
The court declined, though, to immediately lift the protections for hundreds of thousands of people Monday, allowing them to live and work in the U.S. legally amid the administration’s wider crackdown on immigration.
The case will be heard in April, a fast schedule for the nation's highest court, with a decision expected weeks or months later.
The conservative-majority court has sided with the Trump administration on the issue before and allowed the end of temporary legal status for a total of 600,000 people from Venezuela while lawsuits play out, exposing them to potential deportation. The court did not explain its legal reasoning, as is common on its emergency docket.
The Trump administration filed emergency appeals after lower courts stopped the immediate end of the program for 350,000 people from Haiti and 6,000 people from Syria.
The administration asked the court to lift those decisions, hear arguments and issue a broad ruling that would block courts from intervening when Homeland Security decides to end protections.
The Justice Department argued that the Department of Homeland Security has sole power over the program, which was designed to be temporary.
“Lower courts are again attempting to block major executive-branch policy initiatives in ways that inflict specific harms to the national interest and foreign relations,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in court documents.
But immigration attorneys argued that both countries are still largely in crisis and people can't return safely.
“Without a functioning government, Haiti is a nation in turmoil. Rape, kidnapping, and murder are rampant, while food, housing, and medical care are scarce,” attorneys wrote, pointing to reports that four Haitian women were recently found dead months after they were deported from the U.S.
Lupe Aguirre, director of the International Refugee Assistance Project, said Syrians are relieved they will stay protected for now, but disappointed the court agreed to hear the case before it has fully worked its way through lower courts.
Courts in New York and Washington, D.C., have agreed to delay the end of protections, with one finding that “hostility to nonwhite immigrants” likely played a role in the decision to end protections for Haitians. During his presidential campaign, Trump amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating dogs and cats.
Appeals courts left the decisions in place.
A total of about 1.3 million people fleeing armed conflict, natural disasters and political instability in countries around the world have been granted temporary protected status. Federal authorities have said conditions in the affected countries have improved and denied racial animus played any role.
The protections for Haitians were first granted in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake and have been extended multiple times amid ongoing gang violence that has displaced more than a million people, according to court documents.
Protections for Syrians were first granted protected status in 2012, during a civil war that lasted for more than a decade before the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government in late 2024.
Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters, civil strife or other dangerous conditions. The designation is granted in 18-month increments by the Homeland Security secretary.
It allows people to legally live and work in the U.S., though it does not provide a path to citizenship. DHS has moved to terminate the program for people from multiple countries since Republican Donald Trump returned to the White House.
The U.S. Supreme Court as seen during a snowy day on Capitol Hill Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
