Trio of Blackhawks players to begin season on IR

The Blackhawks released to reporters on Friday that, as expected, goaltender Laurent Brossoit and defensemen Artyom Levshunov and Wyatt Kaiser will all begin the regular season on injured reserve. Mario Tirabassi of CHGO Sports relayed the news.

There’s still no specific timeline for a return for Kaiser, the only one of the group placed on standard IR. The placement, which is due to illness, is retroactive to Sept. 19, Tirabassi relayed. That was the first day of Chicago’s training camp, which Kaiser has yet to be a full participant in.

Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reported earlier in the week that pre-camp testing flagged an undisclosed concern with Kaiser’s health that was invasive, but that he’d since been cleared. He’s still ramping up to game speed, though, and won’t be ready for the season opener in Utah on Oct. 8.

Kaiser shouldn’t miss too much more time after that, though. That’s good news for the Hawks, who are hoping to work the 22-year-old into more regular minutes this season. A third-round pick in 2020, he split last year relatively evenly between Chicago and AHL Rockford. He looked like he’d taken a step forward in his NHL appearances, though, posting seven assists and an even rating in 32 games. Averaging 17:19 per game, they certainly could’ve gotten worse out of a young defender on a rebuilding squad.

Meanwhile, Brossoit and Levshunov are beginning the season on the non-roster list, which is no surprise. Both suffered knee and foot injuries, respectively, late in the offseason that the team said would keep them out of training camp and plunge their regular-season opener availability into doubt. 

Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson did say Thursday that Brossoit is on track to return sometime during their season-opening road trip, though, so he’ll likely be added to the roster by the end of next weekend.

The 31-year-old will serve as a far more formidable backup to Petr Mrazek this year after logging a sparkling .927 SV% over the past two years in limited usage with the Golden Knights and Jets. That’s a massive step up on the level of play provided by 25-year-old Arvid Soderblom last year, who posted a .879 SV% and 3.92 GAA in 32 appearances behind Mrazek en route to carrying one of the worst stat lines in the NHL.

He or Kaiser will be the first one to return to action. Levshunov’s season debut, whether it comes with Chicago or Rockford, will need to wait until mid-to-late October. Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson said on Sept. 20 that the 2024 second overall pick was still four weeks away from returning to game action after taking a puck to the foot in rookie camp. 

Levshunov, 19 later this month, had 35 points and a +27 rating in 38 games for Michigan State last year as a freshman before promptly signing his entry-level contract after being drafted by Chicago.