Chicago Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson heads to IR with an ankle injury
The Chicago Blackhawks placed forward Tyler Johnson on injured reserve Thursday, two days after he injured his left ankle during a collision with Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov.
Coach Luke Richardson couldn’t set a timeline for Johnson’s recovery, but it likely is at least a month.
“I know he said he felt better, but he didn’t move very great after the game, but that’s normal right away,” Richardson said before the Hawks’ 6-5 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at the United Center.
“All the pictures and everything, the doctors seemed to think it would be on the lower end, kind of like Boris (Katchouk’s left ankle sprain).”
On Oct. 2, team doctors set Katchouk’s timeline at four to six weeks, but he has been progressing well.
“Sometimes those ankle sprains can drag on for a while,” Richardson said.
Johnson’s injury initially looked bleak.
During the third period of the Hawks’ 4-2 win against the Panthers, Johnson and Barkov were chasing the puck along the half wall when Barkov rolled up on Johnson’s legs.
Johnson struggled to his feet but immediately stumbled to the ice after putting weight on his right leg.
“Ankle sprains are common nowadays, especially with the stiff boots and skates they wear,” Richardson said. “I saw the replay and that’s a big man that rolled over on him, so we’re lucky it’s hopefully short term.
“He was playing so well, too, we’re going to miss him, but it’s definitely good news because it could’ve been worse.”
Johnson has two goals (both in Sunday’s game against the Seattle Kraken) and four assists. He had the primary assist on Taylor Raddysh’s power-play goal to open the scoring against the Panthers.
“It’s tough,” forward Sam Lafferty said. “He was playing so well. He brings so much to the table for us, so much energy and so much skill, he scores, he makes plays, he hits, he does it all.”
Johnson played on the second line with Jonathan Toews and Raddysh and on the top power play with Patrick Kane, Max Domi and Raddysh.
Richardson said Jujhar Khaira will move up to the second line with Raddysh and Toews, and Reese Johnson will replace Khaira on the fourth line with MacKenzie Entwistle and Colin Blackwell
“(We’ll) move Blackwell over to the left-hand side with the righties there,” Richardson said.
“With the power play, it’ll just be how many power plays and penalty kills we have, maybe JJ (Khaira) or (Jason) Dickinson. We’d like to have a lefty down low in front of the net. And then Max will probably move into Tyler’s (left flank) spot on the power play.”
Meanwhile, Richardson couldn’t offer more clarity on the timeline for goalie Petr Mrázek’s recovery from a groin strain. The initial estimate was one to two weeks, but Richardson wasn’t optimistic about a quick comeback.
“Especially with a goalie and his history with that, we’re probably looking toward the latter,” he said. “I guess he’s responded really well. But again, we’ll be cautious with that.”
