Blackhawks’ Alex Nylander to miss 4 to 6 months after having surgery on left knee

The Blackhawks’ hopes for a breakout 2021 season from wing Alex Nylander are no more.

Nylander, 22, had surgery Monday to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee and will miss four to six months, the Hawks said Wednesday.

‘‘Nylander sustained a knee injury during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs,’’ Dr. Michael Terry, the Hawks’ team physician, said in a statement. ‘‘He initially rested and trained conservatively; unfortunately, his symptoms came back when he started to skate.’’

Combined with the Hawks’ schedule announcement Wednesday, which set the regular-season finale as May 8 — less than five months away — Nylander seems likely to miss the entire season.

It’s a huge obstacle in what already has been a tumultuous pro career for Nylander, whom the Hawks controversially acquired from the Sabres for defenseman prospect Henri Jokiharju in the summer of 2019.

Nylander, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2016 draft, finally stuck in the NHL full time last season, but his statistics were far from chart-topping and he often looked disengaged defensively and away from the puck.

He finished with 10 goals and 16 assists in 65 regular-season games. His scoring-chance ratio of 47.7% ranked below the NHL average but in the middle of the pack among Hawks forwards.

Nylander then struggled in his first postseason, recording zero points and an abysmal 30.3% scoring-chance ratio in eight games before being scratched for Game 5 against the Golden Knights. His previously undisclosed knee injury might have contributed to his poor performance.

Nonetheless, general manager Stan Bowman had heralded Nylander, along with centers Kirby Dach and Dylan Strome, defenseman Adam Boqvist and wing Alex DeBrincat, as part of the Hawks’ future core to promote his rebuilding movement this offseason.

Given his age and moderate improvement last season, there was some objective optimism that Nylander could grow into a solid piece for the Hawks down the line. This news doesn’t entirely undo that sentiment, but it does serve as yet another step back for a player plagued by them.

Nylander will be a restricted free agent after this season and will not be due for much of a raise over his current $863,000 cap hit, considering this injury. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him and the Hawks sign a one- or two-year deal that essentially would extend his entry-level honeymoon period, giving him more time to prove himself.

In the meantime, Nylander’s move to injured reserve will open another roster spot in the Hawks’ forward corps.

Andrew Shaw’s and Zack Smith’s uncertain injury statuses and Strome’s uncertain contract status make things a bit cloudy, but, excluding those three, the Hawks have 11 forwards who seem likely to make the NHL roster: Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Dach, DeBrincat, Dominik Kubalik, Mattias Janmark, Lucas Wallmark, Ryan Carpenter, David Kampf, Matthew Highmore and Pius Suter.

Prospects such as Brandon Hagel and Philipp Kurashev, as well as offseason depth additions Brandon Pirri and Matej Chalupa, also will challenge for spots.

The Hawks probably will keep 13 or 14 forwards on the active roster, plus another three or so on the newly instituted taxi squad. Nylander’s injury makes the competition for those slots a little less crowded.

It also makes the Hawks’ protection choices for the Seattle Kraken expansion draft in July a little more complicated.

Nylander previously was presumed to be a likely protection choice. He still might be, but the Hawks instead could elect to protect another forward, such as Carpenter, Kampf or Highmore.

They also could switch from the standard protection format (seven forwards, three defensemen) to the alternative (eight skaters) and expose someone such as Nylander to protect a defenseman such as Nikita Zadorov, Connor Murphy or Calvin de Haan.