Blackhawks lose Teuvo Teräväinen to apparent ankle injury, forcing lineup shake-up

Chicago Blackhawks forward Teuvo Teräväinen suffered an apparent ankle injury during Tuesday night's game against the St. Louis Blues, when Blues forward Dylan Holloway fell into Teräväinen's lower leg. 

Teräväinen did not return, and reports indicate the 32-year-old will not travel with the team to New York for Thursday's road game against the Islanders.

It's a fairly big blow for the Blackhawks as Teräväinen was playing top-six minutes on the second line with Anton Frondell and Tyler Bertuzzi. He was off to a hot start with two assists through the first three games of the season. He now joins a growing list of impact forwards sidelined in Chicago, including Connor Bedard and Andrew Mangiapane.

Teräväinen has largely been a disappointment since arriving from the Carolina Hurricanes, where he was a reliable 50-to-60 point player. The Blackhawks brought him in to fill a crucial top-six role as a steady source of secondary scoring, but he hasn't delivered that production yet. In his first season with Chicago, he finished with 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points in 75 games. 

How the lines will come together without Teräväinen

With several young players, including Frondell and Frank Nazar, expected to take steps forward this year, Teräväinen was projected to benefit from the improved supporting cast, and so far he has. The hope now is that the injury doesn't sideline him long-term.

Several lineup changes are expected to come for Thursday, with Nazar and Patrick Kane remaining on the top line, and Oliver Moore joining them. It will be an interesting look, as the Kane and Nazar pairing has yet to produce much offense this season. 

Alongside Roman Kantserov, Nazar and Kane have played just short of 32 minutes together over four games and have no goals for and one against. The hope is that Moore can help get things going. He had mixed results with Nazar last season, when the two played roughly 117 minutes together and recorded five goals for but seven against, with Teräväinen and Bertuzzi interchanging on the wing. Chicago will want that offensive upside back with Kane added, but the defensive play will need to improve.

Bertuzzi and Frondell are expected to stay together on the second line as Kantserov drops down from the top unit. It's a great opportunity for the 22-year-old to draw off a duo that has proven to be impactful. 

Last season, Bertuzzi and Frondell played just over 91 minutes together over nine games and were excellent, scoring eight goals and allowing only three, with departed winger Ilya Mikheyev as the third member. This season, the pair has three goals for and two against, and both goals against came while skating with Kane. Kantserov doesn't have a point through the first four NHL games of his career, but this move could change that in short order.

Newcomer Dominic Toninato was called up to fill Teräväinen's spot on the roster and is expected to join depth forwards Ryan Donato and Nick Lardis in the bottom six. Toninato arrives from the Rockord IceHogs, where he was a standout last season with 43 points in 52 games. 

There has been a clear area of need in the bottom six, with Moore previously skating alongside Lardis and Donato. That trio has one goal for and four against, the worst rating on the team through the start of the season. Toninato will hope to help round the group out into better defensive form.

Cole Smith, Ryan Greene, and Jordan Greenway are expected to be the one unit unaffected by the injury. Head coach Jeff Blashill has praised the trio, and for good reason: they have skated together in all four games and scored a goal as a unit with none against.

With fresh combinations coming almost across the board, Chicago hopes to find better defensive stability in the bottom of the lineup while giving Moore a bigger role. Hopefully, they will start building some momentum.

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