After being scratched from the Chicago Blackhawks lineup for 11 of 16 games this season, the team placed forward Andreas Athanasiou on waivers Monday afternoon. Following a 20-goal season in 2022-23 with Chicago, Athanasiou signed a two-year, $4.25M AAV contract extension and has skated in just 33 games (five this season) over the course of his current deal, scoring two goals and nine points in those 33 games, with zero points in five games this season.
On the latest edition of the ’32 Thoughts’ podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had said that it was likely Athanasiou would be headed to waivers early this week and related the Athanasiou situation in Chicago to that of Dante Fabbro’s situation with the Nashville Predators that saw him be placed on waivers on Saturday before being claimed by the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.
“Like Fabbro, it’s a player who needs a new start elsewhere.” Friedman said on the Monday morning podcast.
Following Blackhawks practice on Monday, head coach Luke Richardson confirmed the move and said that the plan for Athanasiou, should he clear waivers, is to report to and play in Rockford with the IceHogs.
“If you get picked up, that’s probably good for you,” Richardson said on Monday. “If not, we need him to go play some games and get his skill matched up with his confidence.”
The biggest hinderance to Athanasiou being claimed over the next 24 hours is his current $4.25M AAV cap hit, which a team would have to fully take on if they were to claim him. Most teams don’t have that much cap room already without having to make other roster moves to make the money work. It’s also unlikely a team does that for a player like Athanasiou, who hasn’t produced consistently over his career and is far-removed from a 30-goal season with the Red Wings in 2018-19.
Athanasiou in five games this season has zero points, six shots on goal, is averaging 9:36 minutes of ice time per game, and has a 48.6% faceoff percentage, winning 18 of 37 faceoffs. His last game for the Blackhawks was on October 22.
