The excellent top pair of Connor Murphy and Duncan Keith that the Blackhawks had recently gotten rolling is no more, at least for the next few weeks.
Murphy suffered a groin injury, according to Jeremy Colliton, late in the second period of the Hawks’ 2-1 shootout loss to the Golden Knights on Tuesday. He did not return to the game and finished with 12:24 of ice time.
Colliton said he expected Murphy to miss “a couple weeks.”
It’s the 26-year-old defenseman’s second groin injury of the young season. He was held out for the latter part of the preseason and the first game of the regular season with a similar ailment, though he said recently that it was only minor and didn’t disrupt his fitness.
The setback comes at an unfortunate time for Murphy, who was enjoying arguably the biggest role of his tenure in Chicago so far. He and Keith had developed a strong rapport on and off the ice and were producing effective defensive results on a regular basis.
“Obviously, that’s a blow for us,” Colliton said. “It’s an opportunity for other guys. We think we need to continue to build depth. That’s what we’re going to need. We can’t just play with six D or seven D all year. You’re going to need more than that. That’ll be an opportunity for other guys to grow.”
The obvious candidate for a call-up is top defensive prospect and recent first-round pick Adam Boqvist, though he’s been dealing with his own injury issues during the opening weeks of the AHL season.
Journeyman puck-mover Philip Holm and hard-hitting prospect Dennis Gilbert, who both impressed during training camp, are also potential call-up candidates.
Alternatively, the Hawks could also get by without a call-up, at least for Thursday’s home game against the Flyers — Slater Koekkoek has sat out as the healthy scratch lately and could easily shift into the lineup.
