Bowen Byram out vs. Jets, Teravainen takes Blackhawks PP1

The first sign came at morning skate. Byram wasn't on the ice, and by lunchtime Blashill confirmed it.

Ben Pope

@BenPopeCST

Bowen Byram is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, Blashill says

According to the preview reporting, Byram took a puck to the helmet/visor in Tuesday's 5-3 win over Pittsburgh. That was the same night Connor Bedard made his season debut. So Chicago finally gets its franchise center back, and 1 game later loses the defenseman it just paid like a franchise defenseman. That's very Blackhawks.

And they did pay him. Chicago got Byram from Buffalo on June 23 for the No. 4 pick in the 2026 Draft, defenseman Louis Crevier and the No. 45 pick, with Jordan Greenway coming back in the deal too. About a week later they signed him to a 6-year, $75 million extension worth $12.5 million a year, starting in 2027-28. He's coming off a career-high 42 points in 82 games. This guy is a big part of the plan, and an upper-body injury after a puck to the head is the kind of thing you watch closely.

The lineup is getting shuffled on both ends of the ice. Frank Nazar is back from his suspension, and Ethan Del Mastro goes up to the top pair with Artyom Levshunov in Byram's spot.

Ben Pope

@BenPopeCST

Blackhawks lines in morning skate (vs Jets) with Nazar back from suspension but Byram absent: Kantserov-Bedard-Kane Bertuzzi-Frondell-Teravainen Moore-Nazar-Donato Smith-Greene-Greenway Toninato Del Mastro-Levshunov Vlasic-Cole Kaiser-Rinzel Korchinski Knight

The power play is where it gets interesting. Blashill isn't plugging another defenseman in at the point. He's going with 5 forwards and putting Teravainen at the top.

Ben Pope

@BenPopeCST

Teuvo Teravainen will quarterback PP1 today. It'll be five forwards. Blashill said he wanted to keep the unit as similar to possible as Tuesday, when it looked good. Teravainen is a lefty like Byram, "one of our smartest players," and QBed Carolina's PP years ago.

Blashill's reasoning holds up. The power play looked good Tuesday, Teravainen shoots left like Byram, and he's run a power play before in Carolina. Keeping the unit as close to Tuesday's as possible makes more sense than blowing it up to get a natural defenseman out there. The risk with 5 forwards is getting caught going the other way, so keep an eye on what happens after a lost puck at the blue line.

Next up is Byram's status for the following game. Day-to-day after a puck to the head can mean 1 game or it can drag on, and the Hawks haven't said more than "upper-body." If Teravainen's unit scores against Winnipeg, Blashill doesn't have to rush his $75 million defenseman back. If it doesn't, the pressure to get Byram back goes up.