The Chicago Blackhawks have acquired forward Michael Latta from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for defenseman Cameron Schilling, the team announced Saturday. It’s the first trade by the Blackhawks in 2017.
Latta, 25, will report to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL, where Schilling had been playing all season. The forward, who has previously spent time with the Washington Capitals, had been playing with the Kings’ AHL affiliate this season. In 29 games with the Ontario Reign, he recorded two goals and four assists.
In 113 games with Washington, Latta recorded four goals and 13 assists. So he’s definitely not much of a scorer, although he did post respectable possession numbers. At the very least, he’s fine depth at forward for the organization.
Schilling, 28, recorded seven goals and 10 assists in 40 games with the IceHogs this season. He’s also spent time with the Capitals in the past, although his year-plus in the Blackhawks organization never led to any NHL playing time.
The move doesn’t seem to be a major one, but Latta provides some more depth at forwards as the Blackhawks move some pieces around. They already have lots of defensemen on the IceHogs right now, so losing Schilling shouldn’t be much of an issue there.