Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw has been placed on injured reserve, and defenseman Connor Murphy is expected to miss 10-14 days with a right hip injury. Another pair of devastating injuries for the Blackhawks this season. Shaw joins Jonathan Toews (illness), Kirby Dach (wrist), Alex Nylander (knee), Brent Seabrook (back), and Zack Smith (back) on injured reserve/long-term injured reserve.

Andrew Shaw in concussion protocol (boy, you hate to see that for anyone, but especially Shaw) and Connor Murphy out 10-14 days with a hip injury.

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 11, 2021

Another Concussion For Shaw

Shaw, 29, missed the majority of the 2019-20 regular season with a concussion and has been diagnosed with several others throughout his career. Shaw fought hard to get back to being 100 percent healthy this offseason and looked sharp with four points (two goals, two assists) through the opening 14 games of the season. Now, after suffering yet another concussion, Shaw’s career could be in jeopardy once again.

“It’s terrible,” Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton said. “I don’t have much more to say other than that. Very disappointing.”

Colliton knows all too well about the battle Shaw has been through. After being selected in the second round (No. 58 overall) by the New York Islanders in the 2003 NHL Draft, Colliton had his playing career cut short following numerous concussions. At just 30 years of age (one year older than Shaw currently is), Colliton decided to hang up the skates and turned to coaching.

Shaw appeared to suffer the injury after being elbowed in the face by Stars’ defenseman Joel Hanley on Tuesday.

It looks like Andrew Shaw was likely concussed on this elbow-to-the-face hit by Dallas’ Joel Hanley on Tuesday: pic.twitter.com/SlOAPcHvTh

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 11, 2021

An Enormous Loss For The Blackhawks Defense

Murphy did not play on Tuesday in Dallas and now will be out for at least 10 days with a hip injury. With Murphy sidelined, the Blackhawks will dress seven defensemen for the second consecutive game to help distribute his vacated minutes. Expect to see that quite often with Murphy out of the lineup.

Kevin Lankinen will start tonight vs. Columbus.

Matthew Highmore goes in for Andrew Shaw. Same 7 defensemen. #Blackhawks

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 11, 2021

Through 13 games, Murphy tallied five points (two goals, three assists) while averaging 22:45 of ice time. The former first-round pick (No. 20 overall) of the Arizona Coyotes has arguably been the Blackhawks’ best defensemen over the last three years when healthy.

Blackhawks Make Minor Roster Move

After announcing Shaw and Murphy’s injuries, the Blackhawks also re-assigned defenseman Anton Lindholm to the Rockford IceHogs and recalled defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk to the taxi squad.

Kalynuk, 23, signed on with the Hawks in the offseason after failing to reach an agreement with the Philadelphia Flyers, the team that selected him in the seventh round of the 2017 NHL Draft. Kalynuk spent the previous four years playing college hockey at the University of Wisconsin, where he registered three consecutive campaigns with at least 25 points. The left-handed blue-liner also served as Wisconsin’s captain during his junior season.

Through his first two professional games with the IceHogs, Kalynuk has two points (one goal, one assist) and three shots on goal. Kalynuk could make his NHL debut with the Blackhawks with Murphy out.