The reigning Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks may have to find a way to cover for Duncan Keith who will reportedly be out between 4 to 6 weeks.
Duncan was not around during the Blackhawks practice Tuesday and it was revealed that defenseman had undergone successful surgery to repair a right knee meniscal tear.
The recent developments come as a surprise considering Keith has been around for the team’s first six games of the season. His absence could pose a big problem for the Blackhawks in the next month as the team tries to defend its title.
Keith was a vital figure for the Blackhawks campaign last season. He scored three goals and had 18 assists but more importantly was a vial part of the defensive efforts that allowed the Chicago Blackhawks to snag its third Stanley Cup championship.
While Keith seemed to be looking good in the early goings of the Blackhawks’ campaign, head coach Joel Quenneville bared that the defenseman was indeed complaining of the pain on his knee.
"I don't think it was a defining blow, but it was bothering him," coach Joel Quenneville said.
The timing couldn’t have come at a worse time considering the Blackhawks find themselves in a pretty touch division where every point could be crucial.
Keith has been with the Blackhawks since 2005-06 and has pretty much been up and about. He has missed several games from previous years but thus far, this injury stands to be the longest that will keep the 2015 Conn Smythe Trophy winner out of action.
With Keith out, the Blackhawks will have to rely on the likes of Niklas Hjalmarsson, Brent Seabrook, Trevor Daley, David Rundblad, Kyle Cumiskey, Viktor Svedberg, Trevor van Riemsdyk.
Another one who could help is Michal Roszival though it may take a couple of weeks more since he is still nursing an ankle injury.
It remains to be seen who coach Quenneville will task to step up considering that Keith averaged more than four minutes that anyone else.
It wasn’t exactly revealed when Keith got suffered the injury though it is possible he was playing through it until the time came where he was no longer able to bear the pain.
The good news is that the Blackhawks had already sent feelers for a defenseman but the thing is that general manager Stan Bowman could be forced to speed up things a bit.
Among the possible players they reportedly have in mind are Jan Hejda or Lubomir Visnovsky.
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