Blackhawks Reassign Andreas Athanasiou

Nov. 12, 1:12 p.m.: Athanasiou passed through waivers unclaimed and will be on his way to Rockford, according to Friedman.

Nov. 11, 1:05 p.m.: Athanasiou is indeed on waivers today, per Friedman.

Nov. 11, 8:14 a.m.: Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the Blackhawks will place veteran center Andreas Athanasiou on waivers this week, potentially as early as Monday. The move will leave Chicago with an open roster spot, although it’s unclear what they plan to do with it.

Athanasiou, 30, was signed to a two-year, $8.5MM extension in 2023 after a resurgent 20-goal, 40-point showing with the Blackhawks the preceding season. The club banked on Athansiou’s demonstrated ceiling when healthy and his historical status as one of the league’s fastest skaters to help energize their top nine through their rebuild, even with injuries limiting Athanasiou to fewer than 70 games all but three times in his decade-long career.

The pending waiver placement underscores how poorly things have gone for Athanasiou in the year-plus since. He missed 53 games last season with a lower-body injury, and while he’s managed to avoid IR this season, he’s still barely played. Athanasiou has no points and is averaging 9:36 per game through five contests, and he’s now sat in the press box for nine straight games dating back to Oct. 22.

Even when healthy last season, Athanasiou was limited to two goals and seven assists in 28 appearances. The high-motor pivot has broadly posted relatively solid possession numbers during his time in Chicago, and his ability to slot in at center and on either wing carries some value. Still, he’s not producing enough offensively for his skill set to justify a spot in the lineup or his $4.25MM cap hit.

If he was on a league-minimum deal, or close to it, there’s a high chance at least one team would have banked on his past upside as a 15-to-30-goal scorer in middle-six usage. But his struggles the past two seasons mean no team is willing to risk the pickup at such a high cap hit, even if he’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Teams interested in Athanasiou will likely wait until after he clears waivers to initiate or accelerate trade talks with the Blackhawks, who could flip him to a club with some salary retained and the newfound flexibility of an AHL assignment. Chicago still has two available retention slots and could make him as cheap as $2.125MM against the cap for an acquiring team, who could bury him in the minors for a $975K penalty, compared to the $3.1MM he’ll still cost against Chicago’s books after he assumedly clears and is assigned to AHL Rockford.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.