The Chicago Blackhawks are shutting down defensemen Calvin de Haan and Brent Seabrook for the season with both set to undergo surgery on Friday, the team announced Thursday.
De Haan suffered a right shoulder injury Dec. 10 against the Vegas Golden Knights and has not played since. He underwent offseason surgery on the same shoulder.
De Haan was acquired from Carolina in June, along with forward Aleksi Saarela, for defenseman Gustav Forsling and goalie Anton Forsberg. De Haan was supposed to shore up a defensive unit that was the Achilles heel of the team last season. Instead, his season ends with one goal and five assists in 29 games.
Seabook is also set for surgery on his right shoulder Friday and will undergo surgeries on both hips over the next two months.
He has not played since Dec. 15 and finishes with three goals and one assist in 32 games this season.
The Blackhawks also announced that forward Brandon Saad will be out approximately three weeks with a right ankle injury. He had been placed on injured reserve earlier this week.
Saad is second on the team with 11 goals and fifth with 19 points.
The Blackahawks are having another up-and-down season after missing the playoffs the last two years. They are last in the Central Division but won at Winnipeg and Colorado last week before getting smoked 7-1 at home by the lowly Devils Monday.
Chicago’s defense has given up the seventh-most goals in the league, has the worst expected goals against and has given up the third-worst scoring changes against. They are hovering around .500 in large part because of the stellar goaltending of Robin Lehner and Corey Crawford.