Friday: Kero has cleared waivers and been assigned to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. The team has recalled Hinostroza in his place. Graovac has also cleared and been assigned to the minor leagues, though no recall has been made in his place.
Thursday: According to Scott Powers of The Athletic, the Chicago Blackhawks have decided to place Tanner Kero on waivers today. Kero has been a healthy scratch for the majority of the season, and has three points in eight games on the year. The Blackhawks have lost five straight games and dropped to sixth in the Central Division at 12-11-5.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet also reports that Tyler Graovac will join Kero on waivers today, placed there by the Washington Capitals. Graovac has played just five games for the Capitals, but has not scored a point yet this season. Greg McKegg, on waivers yesterday, has cleared.
While Graovac isn’t much of a surprise, given that he was acquired as a depth piece for the Capitals anyway and their team should be getting Andre Burakovsky back any day, Kero’s waiving will turn some heads. The 25-year old was an important piece for the Blackhawks last season, scoring 16 points in 47 games at the NHL level. Though he’s by no means a star, he moved up and down the lineup last season with relative success.
Instead, the Blackhawks seem poised to make a call-up from the minor leagues. Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times believes it could be Vinnie Hinostroza, the diminutive 23-year old who seems able to score at will for the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs. Ironically, Hinostroza was actually outscored by Kero last season in a similar number of games (Hinostroza put up 14 points in 49 games).