Andreas Athanasiou clears waivers, assigned to AHL

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Finnegan Frost
November 13, 2024 (12:32)

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Breaking news is Hawks Nation as Chicago Blackhawks forward Andreas Athanasiou clears waivers and gets assigned to the team's AHL affiliate in Rockford.

Athanasiou appeared in just five NHL games and didn't record a point in the season's early going as he fell out of favor in the Blackhawks' forward group. The veteran forward scored 40 points (20 goals, 20 assists) in 2022-23, his first season in Chicago, but has been plagued by injuries and underperformance since signing a two-year extension.
-On Tap

According to Puckpedia, Andreas Athanasiou is signed to a 2 year, $8,500,000 contract with a cap hit of $4,250,000 per season. His contract was signed on June 7, 2023, and expires at the end of the 2024-25 season.

As it stands, the Chicago Blackhawks are currently sitting at a 6-9-1 record, slowly climbing back up the NHL rankings.

Through 16 NHL regular season games, Andreas Athanasiou has only played 5, being a healthy scratch for a majority of the season, scoring 0 points.

I think it's pretty safe to say that Andreas Athanasiou has struggled in Chicago so far. Playing just 33 regular season games in 2 seasons, something is clearly going wrong with his game.

During a recent interview, Chicago Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson tore a strip off Athanasiou, stating that the organization will be fine without and highlighting an issue with overconfidence.

"We need him to just go play some games and get his skill matched up with his confidence," Richardson said.
-Luke Richardson

As it stands, Andreas Athanasiou will look to refine his game at the AHL level. Perhaps some time spent with Chicago Blackhawks top prospect Frank Nazar will help ignite his offensive flair.