Oct. 19: Anderson has cleared waivers and will be sent to Rockford, according to Friedman.
Oct. 18: It’s a relatively quiet day on waivers today with just one player hitting the wire. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Blackhawks have placed winger Joey Anderson on waivers.
The 27-year-old played in just one preseason game this fall before deciding to undergo surgery to repair which was termed as a nagging issue. As a result, he wasn’t available to start the season and was designated as injured/non-roster status. The winger returned to practice today, relays Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link), meaning that he has been deemed healthy enough to go on waivers.
Anderson played in 18 games with Chicago last season after making the team out of training camp. However, he was limited to just one assist in those outings despite logging over 12 minutes per game. The Blackhawks waived him in early December but kept him up for a bit after he passed through unclaimed before sending him down to AHL Rockford in early January where he stayed the rest of the way. Anderson was productive with the IceHogs, notching 17 goals and 10 assists in just 33 outings at that level.
Anderson has 169 career NHL appearances under his belt over parts of seven seasons between New Jersey, Toronto, and Chicago and is on an affordable contract, one that pays $800K this season in a one-way salary. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent next summer. However, given his recent struggles at the top level, there’s a good chance that he’ll pass through unclaimed when the waiver period expires at 1 PM CT on Sunday.
What’s the NHL equivalent for DFA? Should have done that.