Chicago Blackhawks captain Connor Bedard will make his season debut Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins as long as he receives final clearance from team doctors, head coach Jeff Blashill announced.
The club activated Bedard off injured reserve and assigned forward Nick Lardis to the AHL's Rockford IceHogs in a corresponding move.
Bedard has been working his way back from a shoulder injury that required surgery in July. He was given a timeline of approximately four months.
"You never really know how things are gonna go," Bedard said of his recovery Tuesday. "I put a lot of time and effort into the rehab process to try and maybe come back a little earlier than originally expected. At the end of the day, it's just when they felt comfortable and said it was safe for me to get back out there."
The 21-year-old skated on a line between Roman Kantserov and Patrick Kane during Sunday's practice.
Bedard led Chicago with 75 points in 69 games last season.
The Blackhawks signed Bedard to a five-year contract worth $15 million per season in July. They named him captain in September.
