The Blackhawks placed Trevor van Riemdsyk on long-term injured reserve on Monday after the rookie defenseman took a puck to the leg during Sunday’s 6-2 victory over the Dallas Stars. The move means van Riemsdyk will miss at least 10 games, though it likely will be significantly longer than that.
“He got hurt pretty bad,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said after the game. “He’s out for a while.”
The Hawks made a few moves on Monday, recalling goaltender Antti Raanta and defenseman Stephen Johns, and assigning goaltender Scott Darling and forward Joakim Nordstrom to Rockford of the American Hockey League.
Raanta was expected to be recalled after being sent down to get a game in on Sunday night, with Darling having played two straight nights and Michael Leighton injured. The Johns and Nordstrom moves, however, could be simply arcane salary-cap maneuvering. More moves are expected Tuesday, though Johns — a Notre Dame grad — certainly is a viable candidate to be recalled as the team’s seventh defenseman in the wake of van Riemsdyk’s injury. Other possibilities include Klas Dahlbeck, Adam Clendening, Kyle Cumiskey, T.J. Brennan and Ville Pokka.
The Hawks are off Monday and Tuesday, and return to practice on Wednesday before heading to Calgary to start their six-game, 11-night circus trip.
