As the Chicago Blackhawks continue to trudge through another season in their rebuilding process, they've made the decision to waive one of their more experienced forwards.
Speedy winger Andreas Athanasiou was placed on waivers by the Blackhawks earlier on Monday; he's played in only five games with Chicago this season and has yet to find the scoresheet.
According to Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson, Athanasiou is “just not clicking” with his teammates at the moment. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, he can work on refining his skills in the American Hockey League, per Sportsnet.
“I just think with his injury last year that kept him out a lot of last year, he missed a lot of hockey then and unfortunately just not clicking on all cylinders yet this year, not in the lineup that much. He hasn’t really played a lot of games. So that was the message, if you get picked up, that’s probably good for you.”
That means you’ll be playing in the NHL. But if not, we need him to just go play some games and get his skill matched up with his confidence,” Richardson continued. “This league is really not for that. That was that message.”
Athanasiou is playing on an expiring contract, a two-year pact with an AAV of $4.25 million. He was limited to only 28 games last season thanks to a groin injury; he scored two goals with seven assists.
Waived by the Blackhawks, Andreas Athanasiou awaits the next step in his NHL career
A native of Ontario, Athanasiou was selected with the 110th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he played the first several years of his career.
Following a career-best 30 goals scored in 2018-19, Athanasiou was dealt from Detroit at the 2020 NHL Trade Deadline to the Edmonton Oilers (and former GM Ken Holland).
He signed subsequent one-year contracts with the Los Angeles Kings for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 NHL seasons.
He's appeared in 492 career NHL games, scoring 127 goals and 118 assists.
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