Connor Bedard Injury: What happened to the Chicago Blackhawks rookie?

Chicago Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard was ruled out for the remainder of the game against the New Jersey Devils on Friday after sustaining an injury to his face/head.

The injury occurred in the first period. Bedard tried to skate past the Devils' traffic in the offensive zone while the Hawks were on a powerplay. As he tried to get through, Devils defenseman Brendan Smith laid a huge open-ice hit on Bedard's face.

Bedard was shaken up by the hit, and he immediately headed to the locker room. The Blackhawks announced on their X (formerly Twitter) handle that he would not return to the game.

"Medical Update: Connor Bedard will not return to tonight’s game."

Before exiting the contest, Bedard clocked 3:05 minutes on the ice. He leads the Blackhawks and rookies in scoring with 33 points through 15 goals and 18 assists in 39 games.

Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said Bedard would need to be evaluated, but that initial signs did not point to a concussion.

“Well, I think he obviously banged his head, but I’m not sure,” Richardson said. “I just got in there now and haven’t heard anything other than everybody’s coming home tonight, everybody’s fine to come home and we’ll get him checked out at home.

“… [The trainers] didn’t say that he’s got a concussion, but we’ll just wait until we get home and checked out thoroughly.”

On Saturday, the Blackhawks confirmed that Bedard had suffered a fractured jaw and was officially being placed on IR.