The Chicago Blackhawks have placed both Landon Slaggert and Dominic Toninato on waivers.
The Chicago Blackhawks kicked off the decision-making portion of their Sunday with loans of Dillon Boucher and Drew Commesso to the AHL's Rockford IceHogs.
Now, as of this afternoon, Landon Slaggert and Dominic Toninato are on waivers. This is for the purpose of assigning them to Rockford as well. There is a risk of them, especially Slaggert, being claimed, but this is a piece of business that had to happen during the cutting season.
With two forwards being taken out of the mix, they are down to 14 in the NHL group. That could mean that they are actually going to keep both Kevin Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro with the group for now.
Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel haven't impressed as much as management would have liked, which gives Korchinski and Del Mastro a chance after strong showings. Keeping all of them would give Kyle Davidson, Jeff Blashill, and the other decision-makers more time to evaluate them as the season gets underway.
The impact that this waiver transaction will have on the forwards is notable as well. Slaggert was in a four-man race for two spots with Jordan Greenway, Teuvo Teravainen, and Andrew Mangiapane. That doesn't even include guys like Sacha Boisvert or AJ Spellacy, who are destined to spend significant time in the AHL first.
For Greenway, Teravainen, Mangiapane, and even Slaggert (if not claimed), they will continue to compete for long-term jobs as well. These are the tough decisions that come with the team getting better.
