Breaking: Garrison lands on waivers after refusing to report to AHL following trade

The Chicago Blackhawks have placed Jason Garrison on unconditional waivers, less than a week after the team acquired the veteran blue liner from the Edmonton Oilers.

The team made the decision to send Garrison back on waivers after he did not report to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.

The veteran's contract, which comes in $650,000 against the cap, is therefore expected to be terminated should he clear waivers on Thursday.

Garrison was acquired on Sunday in a trade with the Oilers, as part of a four-player deal, along with Drake Caggiula in return for defensemen Brandon Manning and Robin Norell. The 34-year-old defenseman took part in 17 games with the Oilers this season, recording one goal and a plus-1 rating.

A veteran of 555 career NHL games, Garrison spent 58 games last season in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves. It is quite shocking to see that he refused to report on Wednesday, a few days following the trade. A further update on his status will be given Thursday afternoon. 

Another waiver move for the Hawks

The Blackhawks also placed defenceman Brandon Davidson on regular waivers Wednesday.

Davidson suffered a right knee injury that required surgery in late November and was expected to miss six to eight weeks. He has not been cleared for contact yet, but his recovery has gone quicker than expected. He was back on the ice in mid-December and is not far from returning to full strength.

The Blackhawks have a surprising amount of depth on the back end. They currently have six defensemen on their NHL roster: Carl Dahlstrom, Gustav Forsling, Erik Gustafsson, Duncan Keith, Connor Murphy and Brent Seabrook. There is also the young rookie blue liner Henri Jokiharju who is expected to return to the lineup once he’s done playing for the Finnish national junior team at the World Junior Championship.

If Davidson clears waivers, he will be assigned to the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL.