The Blackhawks most exciting young prospect may not play a game in the upcoming 2021 NHL season.
On Monday, the Blackhawks announced that Kirby Dach had surgery to repair a fractured right wrist, an injury sustained during a World Juniors pre-tournament game on Dec. 23 against Russia. Although the surgery was successful, Blackhawks team physician Dr. Michael Terry said that Dach is expected to return to “hockey-related activities” in approximately 4-5 months.
With the NHL season scheduled to end in early May, the odds of Dach returning before it ends appear minimal at best.
Here’s how the injury occurred:
Canada’s captain, Kirby Dach, left the ice and went straight to the dressing room after this play. pic.twitter.com/ZEzfG66aad
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 24, 2020
On the positive side of things, Dach’s rookie season offered nothing but encouragement. It was an up-and-down journey but he did amass 23 points in 64 games. After a long pause caused by the pandemic, Dach was one of the Blackhawks key players during the 2020 postseason, scoring six points (one goal, five assists) in nine games while average 19:24 of ice team each game — well above his 14:16 mark from the regular season.
However, training camp starts next weekend and one of the top reasons to watch the Blackhawks in what could very well be an otherwise miserable season was just taken away. And there’s really not too much else that can be said without resorting to absurdly long phrases littered with expletives. It’s all bad.