The Chicago Blackhawks placed veteran defenseman Rob Scuderi on waivers on Tuesday, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie. The 37-year-old blue liner has rarely played in recent weeks and now the 29 other NHL teams will have 24 hours to place a claim on him. If he clears, he’ll likely be sent down to Rockford.
The Blackhawks acquired Scuderi from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Trevor Daley on Dec. 14. Scuderi found himself in the lineup quite a bit in the weeks following the trade, but has only played in 10 games since the start of 2016. He has not produced a single point in his Blackhawks tenure, and is a minus-6 in his extremely limited ice time.
Scuderi had been getting passed over in the lineup quite a bit of late, as younger players like Erik Gustafsson and Viktor Svedberg have been getting opportunities and playing well enough to warrant longer looks. Scuderi has played in just one game in February: last Thursday’s matchup against the Dallas Stars. Prior to that, his last game was Jan. 26.
It’s hard to imagine a team claiming the veteran blue-liner. Scuderi is a slow player who doesn’t move the puck particularly well, which is a dying breed of defenseman in the NHL. He also carries an annual cap hit of $2.25 million through next season, so that is likely to turn teams off to him as well. While an assignment to Rockford would not free up the entirety of his cap hit, it will decrease his annual cap hit by $950,000, the same amount that was cleared when Bryan Bickell was sent to Rockford.
This move could be the precursor to a bigger roster move in the coming days. The Blackhawks have a few needs to address, particularly adding a fourth defenseman and top line left wing. The cap space freed up by waiving Scuderi could be very valuable as the team approaches the Feb. 29 NHL Trade Deadline.