It looks like the Chicago Blackhawks will have to do without one of their new free agents at the start of the season.
According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, Blackhawks goaltender Laurent Brossoit underwent meniscus surgery on Tuesday and will be out for the next five to seven weeks for rehabilitation.
#Black Falcons announce that G Laurent Brossoit underwent meniscus surgery yesterday and will be out for 5-7 weeks, which will allow him to return to action at the end of training camp or the start of the regular season.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) 28 August 2024
There are currently no details as to why Brossoit underwent the surgery at this point in the summer. It’s possible that he recently sustained the injury that required the surgery or simply didn’t think he needed the surgery until now.
The current timetable for Brossoit’s return calls for his return toward the end of the preseason or the beginning of the regular season for the Blackhawks. Chicago’s regular season opener is Oct. 8 against the Utah Hockey Club, exactly six weeks after Brossoit completes his surgery.
Brossoit was signed as a free agent by the Blackhawks on the first day of free agency and was locked into a two-year deal with a salary cap hit of $3.3 million. Chicago signed him in hopes of solidifying their goaltending duo alongside Petr Mrazek, but they may have to wait a little longer for the duo to work together.
Brossoit is coming off his best season in the NHL, posting a 15-5-2 record, .927 save percentage, three shutouts and 17.82 goals above expected average in 23 games with the Winnipeg Jets in the 2023-24 season. He also made one playoff appearance, playing 18 minutes in the Jets’ 5-1 loss in Game 4, stopping all four shots fired at him in the game.
Brossoit was selected in the sixth round by the Calgary Flames in the 2011 NHL Draft, but never played a game for the organization as he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers early in the 2013-14 season. After making his NHL debut the following season, he played a handful of games for the Oilers over four seasons before they opted to de-qualify him and sent him to unrestricted free agency. He then signed with the Jets, where he spent three seasons before spending two more with the Vegas Golden Knights, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2023. He then returned to the Jets last season before signing his current contract with the Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks had a busy offseason building up their reserves around young talent. They signed Brossoit, Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, Alex Martinez, TJ Brodie, Pat Maroon and Craig Smith, and also acquired Ilya Mikheyev and Sam Lafferty from the Vancouver Canucks. They still have more than $6.5 million in salary cap space available, as all of their restricted free agents were signed this offseason.
