CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks lost another young defenseman Friday when the team announced Caleb Jones has a sprained left wrist and is expected to miss approximately six weeks.
The 24-year-old Jones, the younger brother of Chicago defenseman Seth Jones, was acquired in a July trade with Edmonton that moved Duncan Keith to the Oilers.
The Blackhawks said Wednesday that defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk will be out for two to four weeks with a sprained right ankle. The 24-year-old Kalynuk made his NHL debut in March and finished with four goals and five assists in 21 games.
“It will be an opportunity for somebody,” coach Jeremy Colliton said Friday. “A lot of times that's how you build defensive depth, is guys get an opportunity that they wouldn't otherwise get and then hopefully they run with it and then you have a bigger group than you thought when everyone comes back.”
The injuries for Kalynuk and Caleb Jones could lead to Ian Mitchell making the roster for the regular-season opener Wednesday at Colorado. Mitchell, 22, a second-round pick in the 2017 draft, had three goals and four assists in 39 games during an inconsistent rookie season.
The Blackhawks also re-assigned defenseman Nolan Allan and forward Colton Dach to their junior teams on Friday. Chicago selected Allan, 18, with the No. 32 pick in this year's draft, and then grabbed Dach, 18, in the second round at No. 62.
Forwards Evan Barratt and Dmitri Osipov were re-assigned to Rockford in the American Hockey League.
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