CHICAGO >> Blackhawks center Connor Bedard is expected to miss six to eight weeks after he had surgery to repair his fractured jaw.

The team announced the operation and timeline for the 18-year-old rookie on Wednesday. It means he will miss the Feb. 3 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto — dealing a blow to the league.

“I think they just are precautionary on a young guy having a trauma injury like that,” coach Luke Richardson said. “I mean if it’s earlier, great, but I think that’s probably a normal timeline for what they were thinking of what the procedure they did.”

Bedard got hurt when he was leveled by New Jersey defenseman Brendan Smith midway through the first period of Friday night’s 4-2 loss to the Devils. The No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft was hit after he carried the puck into the Blackhawks’ offensive zone.

While Chicago has struggled this season, falling into last place in the Central Division, Bedard has been impressive. He has a team-high 15 goals and 18 assists in 39 games.

“I think he’ll graduate to the bike in the gym after a surgery, and then get to the (ice),” Richardson said. “But he’ll be probably trying to negotiate to get on earlier, I’m sure, but we’ll just try and manage that as best as possible.”

The Blackhawks’ long list of injured forwards also includes Nick Foligno (fractured left finger), Anthony Beauvillier (left wrist), Tyler Johnson (right foot) and Andreas Athanasiou (groin). But Joey Anderson and Taylor Raddysh returned to the lineup for Tuesday night’s 2-1 loss to Edmonton.

NHL

Perry meets with commissioner Bettman

Corey Perry met with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman this week and remains eligible to sign with any team, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the private meeting did not have anything to do with Perry’s eligibility.

Perry requested the meeting, roughly six weeks after the Chicago Blackhawks terminated his contract, citing inappropriate conduct. He was never banned or unable to sign with any of the league’s other 31 teams since becoming a free agent.

Multiple messages sent to Perry’s agent, Pat Morris, seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Chicago put Perry on unconditional waivers and then terminated his $4 million deal for this season, saying he acted in violation of his Standard Player Contract and club policies “intended to promote professional and safe work environments.” The Blackhawks did not go into any further detail about what Perry did, other than general manager Kyle Davidson calling it a workplace matter that did not involve law enforcement.

Baseball

Arbitration deadline nears for 194 players

NEW YORK >> Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Pete Alonso are among 194 players across Major League Baseball still with uncertain salaries for 2024 heading into Thursday’s deadline to exchange proposed figures in arbitration.

Four players reached agreements on one-year contracts Wednesday: Colorado right-hander Cal Quantrill for $6.55 million, Kansas City left-hander Kris Bubic for $2.35 million, Pittsburgh righty JT Brubaker for $2,275,000 and Atlanta righty Huascar Ynoa for $825,000.

The New York Yankees’ Soto, Toronto’s Guerrero and the New York Mets’ Alonso headlined the list of abitration-eligible players still without a deal. If an agreement isn’t reached before Thursday’s exchange, players and teams will swap proposed salaries to be judged by a panel of three arbitrators.

Other high-profile players on track to swap Thursday: outfielders Anthony Santander (Baltimore) and Kyle Tucker (Houston); first baseman Christian Walker (Arizona); second basemen Luis Arraez (Miami) and Gleyber Torres (Yankees); shortstop Willy Adames (Milwaukee); right-handers Corbin Burnes (Brewers), Shane Bieber (Cleveland) and Zac Gallen (Diamondbacks); and left-handers Max Fried (Atlanta) and Framber Valdez (Astros).

Most players are likely to settle Thursday. Last year, 170 reached agreements on the day of the exchange and 33 exchanged proposed figures with their teams.

Tennis

Draw unveiled for Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia >> Top-ranked Iga Swiatek will face 2020 champion Sofia Kenin in the first round and potentially 2016 winner Angelique Kerber or Danielle Collins in the second in a tough start to her bid for a first Australian Open title.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic’s bid for a record-extending 11th Australian Open title will start against a player who was in the qualifying rounds and could include a third round against Andy Murray and a quarterfinal against last year’s runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The draws to determine singles brackets were held Thursday, with the return of former champions Naomi Osaka, Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki to Melbourne Park after maternity breaks resulting in some high-pressure opening rounds.

Osaka, who has won the Australian Open and U.S. Open titles twice, opens against No. 16 Caroline Garcia and is in the same quarter of the draw as U.S. Open winner Coco Gauff.

Briefly

women’s basketball >> Connecticut forward Aubrey Griffin will miss the remainder of the season after doctors confirmed she suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee last week, the school said.

baseball >> Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías won’t be charged with a felony after his arrest in September on suspicion of domestic violence.

Tennis >> Second-seeded Jessica Pegula secured a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over fellow American Bernarda Pera to advance to the quarterfinals of the Adelaide International in Australia.

figure skating >> Canadian ice dancing champion Nikolaj Sorensen, who is under investigation for alleged sexual assault, and his skating partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry have withdrawn from this week’s Canadian figure skating championships in Calgary, Alberta.

Auto racing >> Guenther Steiner, the first employee hired by Haas F1, has not been retained as team principal after a decade with the series’ only American team.

— From news services