Toews, Dach placed on LTIR; Seabrook to injured reserve

The Blackhawks formally placed Jonathan Toews and Kirby Dach on Long-Term Injured Reserve on Thursday after losing their first game of the regular season 5-1 to the Lightning.

Dach sustained a wrist injury while playing with Team Canada before the World Juniors on Dec. 23. He underwent successful surgery on Dec. 28 and he’s expected be miss 4-5 months before being allowed to return to “hockey-related activities.”

Toews never reported to training camp and is dealing with an undisclosed issue. Being placed on LTIR means that Toews will miss at a minimum of 10 games and 24 days. That leaves him on the sidelines until early February at the earliest.

Toews and Dach join Alex Nylander on LTIR, who was placed there following the late December revelation that he also needed surgery.

That leaves Dylan Strome as the team’s No. 1 center while the team also awaits the arrival of Carl Soderberg, a late free agent signing. Soderberg’s travel to Chicago was delayed by immigration issues and he’s now undergoing a 7-day quarantine before joining his teammates on the ice.

The Blackhawks also placed defenseman Brent Seabrook on injured reserve on Thursday. Seabrook missed most of training camp after injuring his back in the first skate of the preseason, as reported by 670 The Score’s Jay Zawaski on Wednesday morning, a report that was corroborated by Bob McKenzie during the second intermission of Wednesday’s game against the Lightning.

During Thursday’s media session, coach Jeremy Colliton offered these thoughts regarding the low ice time of forward Dominik Kubalik:

Chicago returns to the ice Friday night to face Tampa again at 7 p.m.