With the Blackhawks currently on the first of their three days between games, the front office got busy. On Monday, it was announced that forward Andreas Athanasiou will finally be placed on waivers.
The move itself isn’t too surprising. Athanasiou is clearly the 13th forward on Chicago’s current roster. The 30-year-old has only appeared in five games this year, and hasn’t played since October 22. It’s obvious he isn’t much use with the way the current roster is set up, and would probably be looking to get an opportunity wherever else he can.
It’s clear this season hasn’t gone the way Athanasiou planned. He had a disastrous preseason and carried those struggles into the regular season. Athanasiou hasn’t scored a point and has disappeared for most of his minutes this year – he’s -1 on the season. He’s still one of the fastest skaters in the sport, but the reality is that his finishing ability is nowhere close to matching up with that speed.
Athanasiou is in the final year of his contract, but with a $4.25 million cap hit, it’s unlikely that another team would pick him up off of waivers. Even if he clears, he probably won’t be headed elsewhere. The Blackhawks could afford to eat half of his salary, but another team isn’t trading for him and paying over $2 million. It looks like he’ll have a chance to find his game in Rockford again.
With the veteran forward now out of the picture, that opens up a handful of intriguing possibilities for the Blackhawks. The initial thought was that Nolan Allan and Isaak Phillips could both be kept on the roster when Alec Martinez returns from IR this week, but the Blackhawks instead sent Phillips down once again.
Instead, Chicago could make a splash by bringing up one of their big-name youngsters from Rockford this week. There’s a small chance they have found a suitor willing to deal them a second-line center, as they were rumored to be in the market for. However, this move could mean that Frank Nazar has finally done enough to earn his spot with the big club. He’s been excellent to start the season with the IceHogs. With 11 points in nine games, he’s clearly Rockford’s top-line center.
No matter what move the Blackhawks make, I would expect it to come no later than tomorrow. The team leaves for yet another road trip on Wednesday, in which they’ll play in Seattle on Thursday and Vancouver on Saturday. Whichever player they decide on (my guess is Nazar), that skater will need a practice and a morning skate to adjust to the new squad.
