Through the first third of the Blackhawks’ season, the team has been particularly affected by a slew of injuries. Philipp Kurashev and Colin Blackwell both missed the start of the season. Jarred Tinordi has been in and out of the lineup and is currently out with a concussion. Andreas Athanasiou finds himself on injured reserve as well. Most notable of all has been Taylor Hall, who dealt with a handful of injuries before ultimately being ruled out for the season.
As the Blackhawks prepare to take on Edmonton on Tuesday night, the list of notable injuries grows even longer. With Chicago beginning a two-game road trip that concludes in Seattle on Thursday, defenseman Seth Jones isn’t joining the team and is being evaluated for an upper-body injury.
When Sunday’s game against the Capitals ended, Jones came off the ice clearly injured. After the game, head coach Luke Richardson was optimistic about the injury, saying that he hoped his star defenseman would be good to go on the road trip, and that he was getting checked out. Clearly, it was more serious than he had thought if Jones is expected to miss at least two games.
Without Jones in the lineup, the Blackhawks find themselves terribly thin in the defensive ranks. The 29-year-old ranks fourth in ice time per game in the NHL with well over 25 minutes on average, a number that’s only increased in recent games. He hasn’t shown up in the scoring column much with 11 assists and no goals on the year, but has the most shots on goal among players with no goals (60). Some may argue that Jones won’t be missed and his ice time could be of better use to other, younger players. However, Jones has been excellent defensively this year and is a staple of the team’s top defensive pairing. It’s safe to say his absence will be noticeable on the ice.
With Jones out, the Blackhawks will ice a defensive lineup that raises some eyebrows. Remember, rookie Kevin Korchinski is already out due to a personal matter. That means the top six will be some combination of Filip Roos, Connor Murphy, Isaak Phillips, Nikita Zaitsev, Alex Vlasic, and Louis Crevier. Yikes.
If that potential lineup wasn’t scary enough, it’ll take the ice against an Oilers offense that is among the best in the entire league. With the team currently on a seven-game winning streak, their attackers are on a heater, including Connor McDavid and Leon Draisitl. Double yikes.
Though he draws the ire of plenty of Blackhawks fans due to his expensive contract, Chicago will certainly miss Jones’s abilities and leadership on the defensive end. While he may miss as little as two games with his injury, the next few defensive performances from the Blackhawks may not be pretty. Buckle up.
