Chicago Blackhawks defensemen Artyom Levshunov and Matt Grzelcyk will miss the remainder of the season because of injuries, coach Jeff Blashill said Tuesday after the team’s morning skate.
Levshunov, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft, suffered a small fracture in his left hand in the team’s 4-3 win against the New York Islanders on March 24 to open a four-game trip. He played the rest of that game, two nights later against the Philadelphia Flyers and Friday against the New York Rangers before sitting out Sunday in New Jersey.
Levshunov, 20, was promoted to the top defensive pairing after the Hawks’ 4-0 road loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on March 14. He averaged 22 minutes, 57 seconds of ice time in his last seven games with a minus-seven rating.
It ends a sporadic rookie season in which Levshunov showed flashes of setting up plays and leading the top power-play unit paired with ugly turnovers and puck handling. As of Tuesday morning, he was last in the NHL with a minus-41 rating.
Levshunov finished the season with 24 points (two goals, 22 assists) in 68 games.
Grzelcyk, 32, joined the Hawks on a professional tryout in the offseason after giving a career-high 39 assists with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2024-25. He signed a one-year, $1 million contract in October.
The defenseman was injured March 22 in a scrum versus the Nashville Predators. He was quickly ruled out for the team’s four-game trip and now for the remainder of the year.
Grzelcyk will be an unrestricted free agent when the season ends, meaning he might have played his last game with the franchise. He finished the season with 12 assists in 69 games.
Forwards Andrew Mangiapane (undisclosed) and Oliver Moore (lower body) are also out injured.
The Hawks (27-34-13, 67 points) return to the United Center on Tuesday to play host to the Winnipeg Jets following a 1-3 trip. With eight games remaining, they have the second-fewest points in the league.