The Blackhawks held an optional practice on Monday morning following Sunday night’s 2-1 overtime victory at home over the Minnesota Wild, with a couple of small news items to address from the day’s events.
Prior to practice, goaltender Laurent Brossoit was spotted on the ice, an encouraging sign for the offseason pickup who still hasn’t made his Blackhawks debut while recovering from a preseason operation to deal with meniscus issues:
Richardson said following Monday’s practice that there’s still no specific timeline for his return, though.
Another veteran who’s been sidelined with an injury seems closer to returning to game action in defenseman Alec Martinez, who hasn’t played since Oct. 15. Chicago has a road trip approaching later this week and Martinez should be around for it:
Martinez’s improved health was further supported by the reassignment of defenseman Isaak Phillips to the IceHogs, seemingly clearing a spot in the lineup for Martinez:
Perhaps the most interesting news of the day involved veteran forward Andreas Athanasiou, who’s appeared in just five games this season without registering a point and has an average ice time of only 9:36. Rumblings surfaced earlier in the day on Monday that he’d be heading to waivers and Richardson confirmed those rumors during his media session, with the plan being to send Athanasiou to Rockford as well should he clear waivers:
Considering Athansiou’s cap hit is $4.25 million, the odds of him being claimed are extremely low, so the IceHogs appear to be getting another forward to add to their lineup ahead of a seven-day stretch with four games in it, starting with a Wednesday morning game in Michigan against the Grand Rapids Griffins.