The first period of Thursday night’s game in Las Vegas went about as poorly as possible for the Blackhawks, and the team is still reaping the rewards of its shoddy performance. Captain Nick Foligno left early in the game and did not return; he’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury. With just one game left in Chicago’s three-game road swing out west, the team didn’t need to call anyone up – Lukas Reichel was a healthy scratch Thursday and they have more than enough defensemen, scratching Nolan Allan in favor of TJ Brodie.
Despite having all the pieces they need already on the roster, the Blackhawks made two more inexplicable moves on Friday. Chicago called up forward Andreas Athanasiou (wait, what?) as well as defenseman Wyatt Kaiser, sending Allan to Rockford in the process.
A move to bring Kaiser up makes at least some sense. The Blackhawks need to figure out where he fits into their rebuild, if at all. In the final season of his contract, the 22-year-old has gotten buried a bit under some excellent young talent in front of him, and hasn’t been great this season in the AHL. The most likely explanation is that he could be involved in a trade next week, giving interested teams an extra look at his game.
The problem with the move is that Chicago sent down Allan, not TJ Brodie. It makes sense in that Allan is on an entry-level contract that can be moved much easier than Brodie’s NHL deal, but it isn’t as if Brodie is getting picked up by another team if he’s sent through waivers. He’s been by far the least successful defenseman on the team, and he’s currently taking up a spot in the lineup that could be used to develop young talent. There isn’t a world where keeping Brodie over Allan is good for Chicago’s short OR long-term goals.
Athanasiou isn’t a horrible choice if the Blackhawks planned to bring someone up. He may not accomplish as much for the team’s rebuild as someone like Gavin Hayes or Cole Guttman might, but Athanasiou has notched 16 points in 16 games since returning from injury. He’s been criticized for being unable to score despite being one of the fastest skaters on the ice, and it seems unlikely at this point that it’s a move to showcase him for trade purposes – he’s 30 years old and has shown that he doesn’t provide much offense, especially at a whopping $4.25 million cap hit.
But why bring Athanasiou up at all? The Blackhawks have enough skaters, and with Foligno out, it provides an extra lineup spot for young forwards, which is the whole point of the season. No one needs time on the ice at this point more than Reichel. He was scratched on Thursday after being benched on Tuesday because interim head coach Anders Sorensen “didn’t like his game.” If that’s the case, players like Brodie should be sitting nearly every night. Reichel has played hard and fast despite not producing much scoring, and could be a trade chip for Chicago next week. Why not play him as much as possible? Nothing against Athanasiou, but he certainly doesn’t make the team better. If they’re going to lose anyway to try to get a better draft pick, why not give young skaters every opportunity to develop and play together? Why call up a 30-year-old forward in the last year of his contract instead?
