With Seth Jones being out of the lineup a month, it will fall to young players like Alex Vlasic to fill the void left by the veteran defenseman.
Seth Jones is going to be out of the Chicago Blackhawks lineup for a while. After playing in 17 games, Jones is on IR with a foot injury. Before getting hurt, he had two goals and eight assists for 10 points in those 17 games.
While Vlasic has thrived under the mentorship of Jones, there's no telling if he can live up to the same expectations as the team's top defenseman.
Jones played 26:12 against the Seattle Kraken, and came out of the game with a -2, 3 shots on goal and 26 shifts played.
Luke Richardson mentioned how tough it'll be without Jones in the lineup:
"That's a lot of minutes to eat up," coach Luke Richardson said. "He's crucial in a lot of areas on our team. I think it's happened over the last couple years since I've been here, and the guys step up. It's an opportunity to have more minutes and more important minutes."
Already Luke Richardson is attempting to shift responsibilities, as Connor Murphy has been moved up to the top pairing with Alex Vlasic in Jones's absence.