Connor Bedard won't be the first-rounder in the spotlight Thursday night at the Garden.
Instead, Chicago's 2023 No. 1 overall pick will cede attention to the Rangers' No. 16 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Brennan Osman. Brennan Osman will make his NHL debut in this game against the Blackhawks after being recalled from Hartford late Wednesday.
Osman, who celebrates his 21st birthday on Friday, will be in the lineup in place of Tyler Pitlick, whose checking winger suffered a lower-body injury during Tuesday's 6-1 loss to Carolina.
The length of time Pitlick will be out is expected to be undetermined. The NHL's new term is “weekly.”
Head coach Peter Laviolette will have to make ends meet as Osman is unlikely to play such a role, having interestingly failed to score in nine games.
Moving Johnny Brodzinski to the center to form a line with Osman and Will Quill, with Barclay Goodrow shifting to the wing in a remade checking unit with Jimmy Vesey and Nick Bonino, the bottom half You'll be able to play around with six people.
It was a line that remained intact in eight of the club's first 10 games. The numbers around it were frightening.
Alternatively, Laviolette could make a much more drastic move by moving Osman up to the right wing position in conjunction with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad and shifting Blake Wheeler to a modified bottom six. There is.
Osman scored nine goals and 23 points in 28 games for the Wolfpack in his first professional season.
This nine-game drought comes on the heels of streaks in which the Toronto suburb native scored six goals in four straight games and seven goals in six games.
