Well-known sports doctor provides crucial injury update on Connor Bedard

That timing also happens to be the worst possible moment for a franchise trying to sign him long-term.

Bedard remains a restricted free agent this summer, still unsigned, with his camp and general manager Kyle Davidson deep in negotiations.

Every meaningful NHL extension is priced partly on projected durability, and Chicago just picked up a second data point working against that projection.

Dr. Harjas Grewal reviewed the video and could not identify the exact mechanism, but flagged it as a separate injury from Bedard's December setback, which struck the opposite shoulder.

That distinction offers some relief, but it does not erase the pattern forming around Bedard's availability.

In the past seven months, he has missed regular-season games with a right shoulder injury, sat out this summer's IIHF World Championship in Switzerland partly for shoulder rehab, and now left a voluntary skate holding the other shoulder.

The actual stakes sit in deal structure, not just health updates. A long-term extension assumes durability holds flat, and three shoulder-related absences in under a year gives Bedard's camp reason to prefer a shorter bridge deal that resets his value once fully healthy.

Davidson, meanwhile, has fresh incentive to lock in term protection now, before the price of waiting climbs again.

The Blackhawks finished 29-39-14 last season, 31st overall, leaning on Bedard's 75 points just to stay competitive on nights he suited up.

Coach Jeff Blashill does not have the roster depth to absorb another extended absence from his best player without the standings showing it fast.

Until Chicago confirms what actually happened Thursday, every version of this story, on-ice and off, stays frozen in place.

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