Chicago Blackhawks Acquire Austin Wagner

The Los Angeles Kings, after making a handful of moves the last few days, have slipped one in just before the buzzer. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that Austin Wagner has been traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for future considerations.

Wagner, 25, was a regular in the Kings lineup for three seasons, playing 171 games between 2018-2021. But after failing to really establish himself as much more than a fourth-line forward, he was back in the AHL last season, playing all year for the Ontario Reign. This time around has been much of the same, with Wagner playing 24 games for Ontario so far, scoring nine goals and 12 points in the process.

The physical, scrappy forward will get a better chance in Chicago than he was ever going to get again in Los Angeles, and his trade clears some cap off the books for the Kings. The forward is in the final season of a three-year deal with a cap hit of $1,133,333—just over the $1,125,000 that can be buried in the minor leagues. He’s due a qualifying offer of $1.36MM at the end of the season to keep his rights as an RFA, something the Kings weren’t going to do, given his place on the organizational depth chart.

For Chicago, they need someone to play the rest of the year, and why not take a look at Wagner to see if they can coax some NHL production out of him again. Even if they don’t want to hand out that qualifying offer, they could still sign him to a cheaper extension in the coming months.