Breaking: Hawks place veteran defenseman on waivers after failing to trade him!

It was rare good night for the Chicago Blackhawks and their fanbase on Wednesday night and the team has decided to keep going on Thursday by making some changes. 

Last night, the Hawks finally got to celebrate a win as captain Jonathan Toews collected a goal and two assists, and Chicago stopped an eight-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Just minutes ago, the Blackhawks placed veteran defenseman Jan Rutta on waivers. 

Last week, Scott Powers of The Athletic reported that the Hawks were looking to trade Rutta and fellow defensemen Brandon Manning. However, general manager Stan Bowman might have noticed that no other team was interested in acquiring the Czech blue liner and could have decided today it was time to place him on waivers to send him down to the Rockford IceHogs in the American Hockey League. 

Rutta re-signed with Chicago on a one-year deal this summer, after joining the organization as a free agent out of the Czech Republic before the 2017-18 season.

Powers had cited a source that said the Blackhawks “would be willing to accept anything” to get either one of the defenders off the books. Chicago currently has $4.98 million in cap space. Clearly, no one even tried with Rutta... 

This season, Rutta has collected two goals and six points in 23 contests during his second campaign in Chicago. He mostly sees time in a third defensive pairing role.

The Hawks are 4-12-2 under Jeremy Colliton, who replaced Joel Quenneville back on Nov. 6. Chicago opened the scoring for the first time since Nov. 18 and led 2-1 after one period. Opponents had scored first in the Hawks' last 11 games, outscoring them 25-5 in the first period during that span.