Right after acquir8ng forward Rem Pitlick from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday morning, the Chicago Blackhawks reportedly picked up another forward off the waiver wire: Zach Sanford from the Arizona Coyotes.
Sanford, 29, has played for six other NHL teams in his career so far. He was originally drafted 61st overall by the Washington Capitals at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, and he played in 26 games with that team until he was traded to the St. Louis Blues as part of a package for defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk on Feb. 27, 2017. Sanford went on to play 183 regular-season games across four seasons with the Blues, amassing 71 points (36 G, 35 A) in that span. He added another eight points (2 G, 6 A) in 25 playoff games and won the Stanley Cup with St. Louis in 2019.
After his time in St. Louis, Stanford spent short periods of time with the Ottawa Senators (scored nine goals and seventeen points in 50 games), the Winnipeg Jets (four assists in 30 games), the Nashville Predators (two goals and one assist in 16 games), and most recently, the Arizona Coyotes (two assists in 11 games). He was also waived twice in the last two years, so he spent some time with the Milwaukee Admirals (45 games) and Tucson Roadrunners (16 games) in the AHL.
Coach Luke Richardson already said he expects Pitlick to play tomorrow against Calgary, but it’s not yet known if Sanford will make his Chicago debut at the same time. With Taylor Raddysh (groin) and Joey Anderson (shoulder) both skating again, Sanford isn’t likely to be with the NHL team too long, so his AHL experience will also come in handy when the time comes, since the Rockford IceHogs also need reinforcements.