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Examining any possible futures in Chicago for the Blackhawks’ trade-deadline additions

The Blackhawks picked up a few forwards – mostly reclamation projects – at the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline who are potential regulars for next season. Let’s take a look at their careers to date and how they performed in their brief stints with the Blackhawks to determine if they are worth re-signing, as all three are restricted free agents this summer.

Joey Anderson

Most Blackhawks fans had no idea who Joey Anderson was when they traded for him, but he’s an interesting young player who may have the most potential of the this trio for a decent NHL career, simply due to his age. He’s been touted as a smart, hard-working physical player who just hasn’t translated those skills to the NHL yet.

The former third-rounder was originally drafted by the New Jersey Devils in 2016, spent the next two years with the University of Minnesota-Duluth – including winning the 2018 NCAA Tournament Championships – and grabbed attention as the captain of Team USA at the 2018 U20 World Junior Championships with a point-per-game tournament (alongside teammates like Brady Tkachuk and Adam Fox).

Like with most reclamation projects, injury issues derailed his development a bit: a broken ankle that required surgery kept him out of all but 34 games his first season with the Devils, and he spent most of the next season playing in the AHL. Despite his offensive game coming together well in the AHL, the Devils traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs in October 2020. Anderson couldn’t break into the Leafs’ lineup, and instead continued to play in the AHL with the Marlies for the next two seasons. It started to look like this season would see Anderson’s breakthrough into the NHL, but he ended up with just three points (2 G, 1 A) in 14 games with the Leafs before the Blackhawks acquired him in late February.

2022 Top 25 Under 25: Joey Anderson is #11
Waivers eligibility sends this Joey Anderson investigation into a whole new direction.

In Chicago, Anderson had his longest NHL look since his rookie season in New Jersey four years ago. In 24 games with the Blackhawks, Anderson didn’t particularly wow offensively, with just four goals and two assists in a fourth-line role, averaging 12:56 per game. His 1.34 points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 was seventh among Blackhawks forwards who appeared in at least 10 games over the final two months of the season. It’s not surprising that Anderson had more goals than assists, though: he has a decent shot and can crash the net well. Also, his most common linemates were Boris Katchouk and Jujhar Khaira, neither of which are prolific scorers.

One thing that could help Anderson translate his production from lower levels is just shooting more in general. He was definitely a volume shooter in the NCAA and AHL, but he’s never even been average in the NHL, and his 6.03 shots per 60 rate with the Blackhawks was also in the red. Additionally, he’s not getting to the high danger areas as well, as his 0.64 expected goals per 60 was also below average with the Blackhawks. Anderson is physical guy who wins a lot of puck battles, so he needs to be utilized more for net-front presence in the future.

Interestingly, Anderson had one of the best rush attempt rates during his tenure with the Blackhawks: 1.12 per 60 was second most from when he was acquired to the end of the season. He’s got decent speed – especially for being heavier at 207 – but it was really his defensive ability that helped make this possible. Anderson is a smart defensive player, and he managed to strip pucks and flip the ice often enough that it was noticable. This ability contributed to both himself and his linemates having several rush opportunities. Even if Anderson never breaks out offensively to be in the top-nine, he could be a Marcus Kruger-type of player who is responsible for shutting down opponents while flipping the ice for the top-six forwards.

In the end, Anderson is a smart, defensively responsible forward with size who could definitely be useful to the Blackhawks. If he could figure out his offense, he could even shift into a third-line role instead of being a defense-only player. If that happened, it’d be almost ironic that he was a part of the trade for Sam Lafferty, considering Lafferty is the type of player the Leafs wanted Anderson to become – and he still could. This last season in Chicago was the first time that Lafferty, at age 27, really secured a place in any team’s lineup. Anderson is just turning 25 in June, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility that he could likewise turn his career around to be a more regular NHLer. His tenacity will likely endear him regardless to Blackhawks fans in a similar way, if he’s given an opportunity with the team.

Anders Bjork

Of the three forwards picked up at the trade deadline, Bjork is the one most people were excited about despite also being the oldest – he’ll turn 27 in August. This is because he was, at one point, considered a solid prospect with the Boston Bruins: he was a Hobey Baker finalist in his junior season at Notre Dame in 2016–17 and then put up 12 points (4 G, 8 A) in 30 games with Boston a year later. Unfortunately, things kind of unraveled from there: Bjork had season-ending shoulder injury in February 2018. In the following season, he had just one goal and two assists in 20 NHL games before being sent to the AHL. His 2019-20 season was better but still lackluster with a 0.32 points-per-game rate in 58 NHL games, and the Bruins traded him to the Buffalo Sabres in April 2021. With Buffalo, Bjork never hit double digits in points, playing mostly in the AHL this past season before coming to Chicago.

With the Blackhawks, Bjork looked decent. His 13-game sample size is obviously too small for a legitimate evaluation, but his eight points (2 G, 6 A) in that span was his best production since he was 21 – and it was all at 5-on-5. His points per 60 rate (2.94) is definitely skewed by the sample size, but to put it into perspective, that was the top rate among Blackhawks forwards from March 4 until the end of the season. The next closest was his most common linemate, Andreas Anthansiou, with 2.6 points per 60 at 5-on-5. Bjork also contributed to nearly 89 percent of Blackhawks goals he was on the ice for, second best in that same span.

There is some concern over whether Bjork would be able to replicate such production in a larger sample. In terms of goal scoring, his 4.78 shots per 60 rate is well below average and his 15.38 shooting percentage is inflated, so combining that with the stats that say he didn’t really take quality shots – his 0.6 expected goals was ninth among Blackhawks forwards while he was on the team – means his two goals scored are already above expected. Bjork could adjust by taking both more and better shots in the future but, considering he’s never been good in either of those areas in the past, it seems unlikely he’d get there at 27. He’s got a great shot, but even great shooters typically need to up quantity and quality to score consistently in the NHL.

Bjork is a better playmaker in general. Although he’s more efficient than he is creative, we really only saw this in quick flashes here and there. The fact that most of his points were from assists suggests he can be an effective passer in the NHL, but it’s not the first time he’s gotten points in batches to start and then disappeared (see: last season with Buffalo). Bjork also isn’t particularly good defensively, so it means he needs to be played in a top-nine offensive role to get anything worthwhile out of him. With the Blackhawks lack of depth, that wouldn’t be hard to accomplish, but it leaves little flexibility for a player who hasn’t really proven anything in the NHL yet.

2022 Player Report Card: Anders Bjork
Yet another in the ‘dime-a-dozen’ category on the Sabres roster

Still, even though Bjork likely couldn’t duplicate this production and isn’t a long-term solution for the Blackhawks, he can be useful for next season as they need speedy guys with at least some skill, which Bjork fits well enough. He also had some chemistry with Lukas Reichel in the few games they lined up together.

Austin Wagner

Another name Blackhawks fans were likely unfamiliar with, Wagner was once a pretty highly touted prospect for the Los Angles Kings. Originally drafted in the fourth round in 2015, he shot up their prospect chart due to his progression in the WHL, including postseason performance with 21 points in 22 games for the Regina Pats in 2017. As a result of his breakout season, Wagner was selected to attend Team Canada’s camp for the 2017 U20 World Junior Championships, though he was ultimately not selected for the final roster.

As with the other two, an injury in Wagner’s early years likely impacted development a bit: he had surgery during the offseason prior to the 2017-18 season, pushing back his professional debut to December 2017, which definitely affected his play with the AHL’s Ontario Reign that season. Still, the Kings were quite happy with his play during training camp in 2018 – especially his speed and hard-working nature – and he went on to have a solid rookie campaign with 21 points (12 G, 9 A) in 62 games. It seemed like there was a good foundation to build upon with the right development for the 21-year-old, and he climbed up the Kings’ prospects ranks as a result.

2019 Los Angeles Kings Top 25 Under 25: #5 Austin Wagner
Austin Wagner’s got the speed. Can he have everything else, too?

Unfortunately, despite playing predominantly with the Kings the next two seasons, injuries continued to play a major role in limiting Wagner’s playing time and performance. He never hit 70 games nor bested his rookie points total in those two seasons. As several other prospects seemed to pass by Wagner, he went on to play entirely in the AHL in 2021-22 and again last season before being traded to the Blackhawks in March.

Originally believed to have been a pickup to bolster the IceHogs, it turned out that he had an undisclosed injury which became infected prior to being traded from Los Angeles to Chicago so he couldn’t be sent down. This injury kept him from playing until the end of March, so he only skated in seven game with the Blackhawks, picking up one goal and one assist while averaging 12:08 of ice time per game. He played in a bottom-six role with Reese Johnson and MacKenzie Entwistle, where he seemed to fit in well. In just under 49 minutes together, the line surprisingly owned 47 percent of the shot attempts and 52 percent of the shots on goal when on the ice together – one of the better shot metric results for a Blackhawks line this season.

The short sample for Wagner means it’s very hard to evaluate his play beyond the surface level. His 9.27 shots per 60 was good, but he’s never had a particularly good shot so he’d need to increase this more – or shoot from higher danger areas as his 0.53 expected goals per 60 was very low – if he wanted to score more. The only really obvious ability that Wagner showed was one he’s always been known for: he’s an explosive skater who can skate with the best of them when it comes to straight line speed. He seemed to be decent in transition – something the Blackhawks lacked last season – but there are not stats to back this up currently. Wagner also showed he could be physical with a 13.55 hits per 60, highest during his playing time span.

There are definitely attributes to like about Wagner’s game which could lead to him carving out a niche role in the NHL. Considering he’s turning 26 in June, though, he doesn’t have long to figure it out.

Who should the Blackhawks sign of the three – if anyone?

The Blackhawks still need bodies for next season – they have only eight forwards under contract among the players who finished last season with Chicago – so they could technically sign all three for various roles. If any of them do well enough, they could be flipped for picks easily, and all of them have the added benefit of being known above average AHL players, so they could also be sent to Rockford to provide a good veteran influence for incoming prospects. As mentioned above, Anderson already did this during the IceHogs’ short playoff run this spring, where where he was one of Rockford’s better players.

What Kyle Davidson would have to consider is the amount each player needs to be qualified as a restricted free agent and if he could pick up other better quality players for flip options. Anderson’s qualifying offer is the lowest at $840,000 and, combining that with his age, it seems like a no-brainer to bring back as a zero-risk investment. Wagner’s is a little steeper at $1.36 million and Bjork’s is the most at $1.8 million. Both of those probably seem like a lot considering they have been predominantly AHL players recently, but those amounts won’t affect the Blackhawks’ financial situation, considering Chicago still needs to reach the cap floor. And since they currently have just 34 of 50 contract spots filled and a lot of room at the NHL level, signing any of these three – or all of them – wouldn’t really block Davidson from picking up other guys in the offseason.

Ultimately, none of these three are going to likely make or break the Blackhawks next season, but there are more pros than cons to signing them as placeholders.

Talking Points