Byram Lands on Injured Reserve as Blackhawks' Injury Mystery Deepens

The Chicago Blackhawks have placed defenceman Bowen Byram on injured reserve, retroactive to October 15, after he missed his eighth straight game with a mysterious upper-body injury. The move, made on November 3, ends weeks of uncertainty around a player the club signed to a six-year, $75 million extension on July 1, days after acquiring him from Buffalo on June 23. Byram, 24, has played only six games for Chicago this season, giving the puck away eight times and posting a minus-7 rating. He was first ruled day-to-day with an upper-body injury in mid-October, but the situation turned strange on October 31, when Frank Seravalli reported on Chicago Sports Network's pregame show that Byram had been cleared to play but simply was not comfortable returning. Two days later, Byram left morning skate early, and head coach Jeff Blashill said the defenceman was seeing a specialist and was not medically cleared, directly contradicting the earlier report. With no return date in sight, the Blackhawks recalled forward Dillon Boucher from the Rockford IceHogs in a corresponding move. Chicago, already without veteran winger Patrick Kane for the next couple of games with an upper-body injury, has now lost one of its biggest offseason investments for the foreseeable future, with the club offering no timeline for Byram's return.