Blackhawks
Top pick in 2019 draft suffered a fractured wrist, TSN says
The Hawks confirmed the injury in a statement Thursday afternoon, adding that “he will return to Chicago today for further evaluation. The Blackhawks will provide updates when they become available.”
TSN’s Bob McKenzie tweeted Thursday that Dach suffered a fracture, adding that the Blackhawks would like further examination of the injury before deciding whether surgery is required. McKenzie added that Dach would miss the rest of the world juniors and likely would miss NHL time as well.
Dach, the captain of a star-studded Canadian team at the tournament in Edmonton, put a hit on a Russian player, then immediately took the glove off his right hand and clutched his lower arm before skating off the ice.
“It sucks,” Canadian defenseman Bowen Byram said Wednesday during the NHL Network’s broadcast of postgame interviews. “Nobody’s really too sure what’s going on with him right now. Just hoping for the best.”
Canadian forward Dylan Cozens added: “It’s tough. I was on the ice (but) I didn’t see what happened. Anytime a guy leaves, it sucks, for sure.”
The Hawks loaned Dach to Canada’s men’s junior team in October, and sent three others as well: forward Michal Teply (Czech Republic), defenseman Michael Krutil (Czech Republic) and forward Landon Slaggert (USA).
Earlier this month, Hawks general manager Stan Bowman said “we were going to have eight players at World Junior if everyone was healthy, as it stands, we have four. It could’ve been a pretty big tournament for our prospect performance.
“We do have the four players participating this year, highlighted by Kirby. Interested to see how that goes. It’s going to be fun to see the Canadian team; it looks very strong.”
Dach, the Hawks’ top pick in the 2019 draft, had eight goals and 15 assists in 64 games during his rookie season. He also had one goal and five assists in the postseason, including the qualifying round.
Dach’s injury comes on the heels of the news that forward
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
