The Chicago Blackhawks’ blueline will be without its best player for the next few weeks. The Blackhawks have announced that defenseman Seth Jones will miss the next three to four weeks due to an injury to his right thumb. Per head coach Luke Richardson, Jones injured his thumb blocking a shot in Saturday's game.
This news comes as the Blackhawks have gotten off to a surprisingly strong start. The team is 4-3-1, an impressive early-season record for a squad most expected to spend most of this season in the basement of the NHL standings.
Jones’ play has helped Chicago get off to this quality start. The 28-year-old defenseman has four assists in eight games and has registered 25:14 time-on-ice per game, more than five minutes higher than the next-most-utilized player. Four of those minutes per night come on the penalty kill and nearly four have come on the power play. He’s been an all-situations defenseman for Richardson, who will now need to find a new way to fill that heavy workload.
The Blackhawks’ defense beyond Jones is shaky. Connor Murphy and Jack Johnson each play over 19 minutes per game, and it’s possible that one or both of these players sees their ice time rise to above 20 minutes per game in Jones’ absence. This injury certainly isn’t ideal for the Blackhawks, especially with No. 1 goalie Petr Mrazek still sidelined.
Still, it’s an early test of the team’s mettle that will at the very least provide an opportunity for others to make more of a mark on the Blackhawks’ season than they might have been able to with Jones healthy.
More must-reads: