Chicago Blackhawks Officially Send 30-Goal Scoring Forward to The American Hockey League on Tuesday
The Chicago Blackhawks put former 30-goal scorer, Andreas Athanasiou on waivers yesterday. The move happened because according to Luke Richardson, his consistency didn't match his confidence.
That is a fair criticism, but other than Ryan Donato, and scant others on the team lately, you could've done this to Tyler Bertuzzi as well whose been disappointing too.
But, I digress Athanasiou was paid handsomely, after his 20-goal season in 2022-2023, and would follow up that season with a mostly injured 2023-2024.
Since then, he's not been producing at the clip he should've been. The entire reason for the move.
Most surprisingly is, no NHL team made the effort to scoop him up, as a fresh start sometimes helps.
But apparently not for Athanasiou, who only played 5 games this season and produced bagels.
We know he can do better, and I'm sure he does as well. So maybe this just a short stint for Athanasiou.
h Luke Richardson on Andreas Athanasiou being placed on waivers: "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. This league is really not for that. That was that message."
Or could this mean a change in pace? Frank Nazar is lighting up the AHL currently and could add some needed scoring in the NHL.
Until then, what could possibly be the outcome of Athanasiou's stay in the AHL? An eventual trade? There's been speculation that Kyle Davidson could be moving players for a 2nd-line center but haven't made any moves yet.
The Hawks are supposed to be competitive this year but have trouble mounting pressure in their opponent's zone nightly.
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Previously on HawksInsider
