Which Blackhawks player should take Connor Bedard’s All-Star spot?
After undergoing surgery to repair a fractured jaw following a jarring hit by New Jersey Devils defenseman Brendan Smith, Chicago Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard will be sidelined for the next six to eight weeks.
Bedard would have been the youngest player in NHL history to compete in an All-Star game after being selected as the Blackhawks representative for the 2024 event on Feb. 3. But now Bedard’s misfortune will benefit one of his teammates as Chicago will send someone in his place.
Here are the players on the Blackhawks roster most deserving of taking Bedard’s spot:
Jason Dickinson, center
In his eighth NHL season, Dickinson is having a career year. He’s scored 14 goals and 21 points through 41 games, and the Blackhawks have a negative goal differential with every forward who’s skated in 15 or more games except Dickinson, who has a +10 differential.
Dickinson is second on the team in goals and third in points, and he’s Chicago’s leading faceoff specialist, winning a team-high 280 draws with a faceoff percentage of 46.6 — second-best among Blackhawks centers to take 200 or more faceoffs. He’s already broke his career mark for single-season goals (he’s on track to score 28), and he’s on pace to set new career highs in points (30) and ice time (16:11 per game).
Petr Mrazek, goalie
Mrazek’s numbers may not look overly spectacular, but considering the talent playing in front of him (Chicago scores the second-fewest goals per game and allows the second-most), it puts his performances into a different context.
He’s allowed two goals or fewer in nine of his 27 appearances (including one shutout), and he’s made 30 or more saves in 14 of them. Mrazek has faced the eighth-most shots (816) and played the 10th-most minutes (1493:52) among goalies this year, and he’s just three wins away from his most single-season wins since 2019.
Philipp Kurashev, center
The 24-year-old forward is Chicago’s second-leading scorer behind Bedard (23 points), and he’s tied for the team lead in power-play goals (three) with the second-most power-play points (seven). Kurashev also averages the second-most ice time per game among forwards behind Bedard (18:57), which is nearly a minute-and-a-half higher than his career best.
Kurashev is also tied for the team lead in and game-winning goals (two). He’s just one goal and two points away from matching his career highs. (He scored nine goals and 25 points in 70 games last season.)
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