The Chicago Blackhawks placed top-line forward Taylor Hall (shoulder) on injured reserve Tuesday.
“It’s good timing because I think Kurshy (Philipp Kurashev) is ready to go, so Kurashev will go in tonight and we’ll have a little bit of a rotation in the lines, but we’ll work on that as we go and Petr (Mrázek) will start,” coach Luke Richardson said.
Kurashev missed much of training camp and the first six games of the season with a left wrist injury, and expressed frustration with his absence.
Hall first started dealing with pain in his left shoulder Oct. 11 after getting hit blindside by Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo in the’ second game of the season. He missed the next game three days later in Montreal, but played the next two games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche.
Hall temporarily left Saturday’s home opener against the Vegas Golden Knights before returning, but he aggravated the injury. Richardson couldn’t give a timeline for Hall’s return.
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“He said he’s a quick healer. We’re not sure what that means really yet, but we’re hoping it is,” Richardson laughed. “Anything quicker is better than longer for us because I thought he had a good start for us.”
Richardson said he never realized how much of a physical player Hall is until he joined the Hawks: “He’s a real good 200-foot player that we miss right now.”
Hall hasn’t scored a goal yet but has two assists in five games. HIs line with Connor Bedard and Ryan Donato leads the team in scoring chances (21) in five-on-five, though they’ve spent the second-most time together.
The Hawks have asked Hall to be a mentor on the bench and in the locker room, as much as perform on the ice.
“It’s the unfortunate part of injuries, right?” winger Nick Foligno said. “He’s a big part of what we’re doing here, so I think it’s hard to have a guy like him out of the lineup. But we need him healthy, too.
“He’s a warrior, he’s a guy who tries to play through everything. We’ll miss him while he’s gone. It’s a cliché, but it is a great opportunity for a team that’s still trying to find our identity to step up when a guy like that’s missing.”