Bowen Byram was still in a non-contact jersey at the Chicago Blackhawks' morning skate Tuesday, with Los Angeles coming to town tonight.
Mark Lazerus passed along the update, and the 25-year-old is still listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
A non-contact jersey is hockey's version of a learner's permit. You're on the road, but nobody's letting you merge onto the highway yet.
He's dressed for just 6 games this season, and his only point came on the power play.
And when he has played, it hasn't been pretty. A -7 rating on a $6,250,000 cap hit is a tough look for anybody, injured or not.
So who holds the blue line together in the meantime?
Mostly young legs. Artyom Levshunov and Wyatt Kaiser have dressed for all 11 games, and 22-year-old Sam Rinzel is right behind them.
-
Bowen Byram's jersey at Blackhawks skate tells a frustrating story ahead of Kings clash
Los Angeles won 6-3 in New York on Monday night, so tonight is the back end of a back-to-back for the Kings.
That's an opening Jeff Blashill's team can't afford to waste, especially at home.
The Kings are 3-5-2 in Peter Laviolette's first season, but 3-2-2 away from home.
Artemi Panarin leads them with 7 goals and 11 points.
The Blackhawks have dropped three straight, including Sunday afternoon's 3-2 loss to Florida.
At 3-8-0, they sit last in the Central, and only Vancouver has fewer points league-wide.
They're allowing 3.9 goals per game, and Spencer Knight sits at .891.
The offense isn't bailing anybody out either. Only Philadelphia averages fewer goals per game.
Ian Cole, 37, owns the only plus rating among Chicago's everyday defensemen at +1.
Sunday also featured big Florida hits on Levshunov and Teuvo Teravainen, so this group is banged up in more ways than one.
After the Kings, Chicago visits Detroit on Thursday and Boston on Saturday, carrying a road record that's still 0-4-0.
Byram's jersey color is the first thing to watch. If it's the same shade Thursday morning, that day-to-day label starts looking a lot longer.
Is Bowen Byram worth his $6,250,000 cap hit to the Blackhawks?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Oilers-Rangers trade proposal has Edmonton giving up more than Tristan Jarry
