Chicago Blackhawks place Joey Anderson on injured reserve

Anderson has tallied five assists in 13 games with the Blackhawks this season. He had seven goals and nine assists in 14 games with the Blackhawks’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Rockford IceHogs before he was recalled. Anderson has found himself on the third line this season with veteran Nick Foligno and Jason Dickinson.

Foligno commented on the absence of Anderson, “He’s played great,” Foligno said after the 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. “It stinks to have him out of the lineup in this game because he was making a big difference and he gives us such depth throughout our lineup.”

The 25-year-old has been effective at both drawing penalties and being disciplined himself in his limited time in the NHL. Since 2021, he’s tied with Conor Garland for 12th in the league among forwards with 500 minutes of ice time in penalty goals above replacement per 60 minutes with 0.171.

Anderson was a former third-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in the 2016 NHL Draft and spent parts of two seasons with them before he was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Andreas Johnsson in the 2020 offseason. Anderson then spent parts of three seasons in Toronto before he was dealt to Chicago as part of the return for Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty at the 2023 trade deadline.

Anderson is currently on a one-year, $800,000 contract, and is set to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at the end of the season.

The Blackhawks injuries now include Seth Jones, Taylor Hall, Jarred Tinordi, Andreas Athanasiou and Anderson. Defenseman Alex Vlasic also did not play in Snday’s game with a upper-body injury.