Nolan Allan - Dec. 19 Chicago Blackhawks Media Availability postgame The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that the team is assigning defenseman Wyatt Kaiser to the AHL and placing forward Craig Smith on the injured reserve. Kaiser has been serving as the seventh defenseman and has been a healthy scratch for the past three games. He has one assist in 28 games and is a -5 over his past five games played. With Kevin Korchinski in the NHL and Nolan Allan playing great hockey, there was just no space for Kaiser to come back in at this time. It is a good decision to have him get more playing time with the Rockford IceHogs for the time being. Smith (back), joins Seth Jones, Alec Martinez, and Laurent Brossoit on the Blackhawks' injured reserve. Smith has missed the last four games. He has been a good veteran addition to the team as he has six goals and 10 points in 26 games while playing on the fourth line with mostly Pat Maroon and Lukas Reichel. Smith will likely take his place on that line when he's healthy again. With Kaiser being sent down and Smith heading to the IR, that means the Blackhawks have just 21 players on the roster, two fewer than the maximum allowed. With the Christmas break coming up, there's a chance that the team waits until after the holidays are over and sees where their players are at before making another move. Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/] team site to stay updated on the latest news [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-newshttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news], game day [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/game-dayhttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/game-day] coverage, player features [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/playershttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/players], and more. RECENT BLACKHAWKS NEWS
