ST. PAUL, Minn. — Blackhawks general manger Stan Bowman made his first external roster move in months on Monday, claiming defenseman Nick Seeler off waivers from the Wild.
Seeler, 26, has played in only six NHL games this season, sitting as a healthy scratch for the Wild most nights.
Now, he’ll stay in St. Paul for a few more days, but switch sides — he’ll be a member of the Hawks when they face the Wild on Tuesday.
Seeler has played 99 career games, including 22 in 2017-18 and a sizable 71 in 2018-19 before falling out of favor this year.
He hasn’t shown much offensive upside, tallying just two goals and nine assists in his career, and his advanced defensive numbers are decent but unremarkable, with 47.7 percent shot attempt and 48.0 percent scoring chance ratios.
He does have good size at 6-2, 201 pounds, and has another year left at a cheap $725,000 cap hit following this season.
From the macro view, Seeler’s addition adds another body to the Hawks’ injury-gutted defenseman corps at both the NHL and AHL levels, which could come in especially handy if pending free agent Erik Gustafsson is traded this month.
From the micro view, Seeler can — for now — slot in as the team’s new No. 7 defenseman, allowing young Dennis Gilbert to go back to playing big minutes and developing steadily in Rockford.
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