As expected, the Chicago Blackhawks placed goaltender Corey Crawford and defensemen Gustav Forsling and Connor Murphy on injured reserve Wednesday. With the moves, Chicago finalized its 23-man roster.
Crawford (concussion) started practicing this week with the team for the first time in nearly eight months. At the start of training camp, he reveled he suffered a concussion last December that kept him out for the majority of the season and he was still dealing with lingering symptoms from it. On Tuesday, coach Joel Quenneville said he’s optimistic Crawford could return by the Hawks’ sixth game of the season Oct. 18 against Arizona at home.
Murphy (back) will be out until early- to mid-December after his timetable to return was extended in September. The 25-year-old scored two goals with 12 assists in 76 games last season for Chicago. He averaged a little more than 16 minutes of ice time per game, which was the second-lowest among all defensemen last season.
Forsling (right wrist) was put on a 14-week timetable to return after having surgery in July. He’s expected to be back by the end of October, at the earliest.
Here’s how the Blackhawks’ roster looks:
Forwards (13)
Artem Anisimov
Alex DeBrincat
John Hayden
Luke Johnson
Dominik Kahun
David Kampf
Patrick Kane
Marcus Kruger
Chris Kunitz
Andreas Martinsen
Brandon Saad
Nick Schmaltz
Jonathan Toews
Defensemen (7)
Brandon Davidson
Erik Gustafsson
Henri Jokiharju
Duncan Keith
Brandon Manning
Jan Rutta
Brent Seabrook
Goaltenders (2)
Anton Forsberg
Cam Ward
Injured reserve (3)
Corey Crawford
Gustav Forsling
Connor Murphy
Quenneville has said the Hawks will not carry eight defensemen like last season or three goaltenders once Crawford returns. Forsberg will need to pass through waivers to be assigned to the AHL.