5 Storylines To Follow During the Second Half of the Season for the Chicago Blackhawks

Connor Bedard's return from injured reserve and the impact it will have on the offense.

Bedard has been out since January 5th with a fractured jaw. He provided an update on his return at the All-Star Game.

The return timetable appears to be the same six to eight weeks as it was projected when he had surgery. It sounds like a return in February is unlikely. That means a March return.

It also means the Chicago Blackhawks offense will continue to struggle. The Hawks have been shut out in four of the 11 games they have played without Bedard. They also have four games during that span where they have scored one goal in regulation or overtime.

It is not like the Blackhawks are not shooting the puck. They just do not have a load of talented skill players to find the back of the net with Bedard on IR. Now the scoring drought is getting into the team's heads.

Jason Dickinson has been the only threat to score on a nightly basis. Otherwise, finding offense has been laborious. The only positive with Bedard out is everyone has stopped standing around watching Bedard try to make amazing things happen.

Once he returns, the hope is the effort everyone is playing with, along with Connor's amazing skills starts to produce more scoring.