Connor Bedard makes season debut Tuesday for Blackhawks against Penguins

Bedard returns from left shoulder surgery and has three games this week, but he remains on injured reserve in fantasy systems.

By Fantasy Roundup Staff · October 13, 2026 · Updated October 13, 2026

Connor Bedard is set to make his season debut Tuesday night when the Blackhawks host the Penguins. The Chicago captain had surgery on his left shoulder on July 8 and missed the entire preseason and the first six games of the season.

Bedard remains on injured reserve with no return date in fantasy injury feeds, so the move does nothing for a fantasy lineup until he is activated. Once cleared, he returns to a first power-play role that saw him average 3:23 of power-play time a night, the most among all Chicago skaters.

Fantasy impact

Player by player

Connor Bedard

Bedard cannot play in fantasy lineups until he is removed from injured reserve, even though he is back in the Chicago lineup. He will play in three games this week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) once activated. Before the absence, he held the top power-play spot and averaged 20:53 a night. His recent averages are 0.39 goals, 0.60 assists, 2.9 shots and 0.33 power-play points per game.

His underlying play grades 64 out of 100 among forwards, a read on how sustainable his scoring is based on shots, scoring chances and ice time. That number suggests the production may not fully match the workload. Wait for the activation notice from your fantasy platform before inserting him into lineups, then deploy him immediately in all formats given his first-unit power-play role and Chicago's three remaining games this week.

What to do

• Do not insert Bedard into lineups until your fantasy platform removes him from injured reserve.

• Once activated, start Bedard immediately in all formats with three games remaining this week.

• Monitor your platform for the activation notice, which should come before Tuesday's game against Pittsburgh.

Schedule this week