Chicago Blackhawks forward Artem Anisimov has been under heavy scrutiny for most of the offseason. After back-to-back seasons with less than 40 points, many believe Anisimov is no longer worth his $4.55M cap hit. He’s also not getting any younger and will turn 31 on May 24th. Stan Bowman and the front office are more than likely going to look at all trade possibilities once Anisimov’s modified no-trade clause expires on July 1st. Shoot, they could even have a deal already in place and are just waiting on the date. Until July 1st though, there isn’t much that the Blackhawks can do but sit back and wait.
Luckily for Stan Bowman, he’s had the luxury of waiting while many current Blackhawk players and prospects take part in the IIHF Men’s World Championship. Artem Anisimov is one of those players, and he’s been fairly productive for Team Russia so far. Through seven preliminary games, the 6’4″ Russian forward has five points (3G, 2A) and is +8 with 12 shots on goal. Anisimov’s latest goal came yesterday (5/22) to tie the game vs. Sweden.
It’s nice to see Artem Anisimov contribute toward Russia’s 7-0 start to the World Championship. They are the only team without a loss so far in the tournament. The Russians managed to win Group B and will take on Team USA in the quarterfinals on Thursday, May 23rd. It certainly will be fun to see Anisimov go up against his Blackhawk teammates Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat.
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