Blackhawks Bench $16 Million Man Teuvo Teravainen for Season Opener

The Chicago Blackhawks are opening their season by paying Teuvo Teravainen $5.4 million to watch hockey from the press box. The 32-year-old veteran is officially a healthy scratch for Tuesday's season opener against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Being a healthy scratch on opening night is the NHL equivalent of showing up to the first day of school and finding out your desk was moved to the hallway. It is a glaring red flag for a guy who just put up 35 points in 75 games last season and has not missed significant time due to injury.

"Daily Faceoff reported the healthy scratch via Twitter."

Teravainen is currently in the second year of a three-year, $16.2 million contract he signed to return to Chicago. You generally do not hand out that kind of cash to a forward unless you plan on actually dressing him for the games that count.

For anyone holding a Teravainen anytime goalscorer ticket or looking at his shot props for the late-night Vegas slate, you can go ahead and void those out. The sportsbooks will refund you, but the Blackhawks are still on the hook for his daily cap hit while he eats popcorn in the suites.

Chicago heads to Utah later this week, which means Teravainen has a few days to figure out how to get out of the doghouse. Until then, the Blackhawks are making a very expensive statement about their lineup standards before the puck even drops on the new season.