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Without Jujhar Khaira, Blackhawks need depth forwards to start chipping in

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Before his injury, Khaira had been one of few Hawks forwards showing at least a little offensive spark. The rest of the bottom-six crew direly need to increase their production.
Jujhar Khaira is expected to make a full recovery. That fact alone provides enormous relief to the Blackhawks and the entire hockey world, which had been collectively hoping for the best after Khaira’s ghastly head injury Tuesday against the Rangers. Khaira was released Wednesday from Northwestern Hospital and placed on injured reserve and in concussion protocol. Hawks team physician Dr. Michael Terry said in a statement that “despite the significant injury, his prognosis is excellent.” It’s too early to project the length of his recovery timeline, Terry added. However, it seems reasonable to expect the 27-year-old wing will be out at least weeks, if not months or longer. And that will dent the Hawks’ depth. Partially as a result of his injury, Hawks shuffled a number of players before their road trip to Montreal and Toronto. Forwards Mike Hardman and Philipp Kurashev were recalled from the AHL, defensemen Ian Mitchell and Wyatt Kalynuk were sent down and forward MacKenzie Entwistle was activated from long-term injured reserve and also sent down. Although Khaira’s signing over the summer prompted barely a tremor among the Hawks’ earthquakes around that time, he established himself as a decent role player through his first 17 games this season, averaging 14:18 of ice time.

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