Kris Versteeg’s sudden semi-retirement on Sunday left the Rockford IceHogs with an unbelievably young, inexperienced roster.
The Blackhawks moved quickly to address that void, landing Joseph Cramarossa — another AHL veteran leader — in a trade with the Penguins on Wednesday.
The Hawks sent failed prospect Graham Knott to the Pens in exchange.
Cramarossa is a 27-year-old winger boasting 294 games of AHL experience, though he’s never been particularly productive at the AHL level.
In 56 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season, for example, he tallied 16 points and 116 penalty minutes. That accurately depicts his inclination towards physicality over playmaking. He’d appeared in nine more games this year prior to Wednesday’s trade, collecting three points and 16 penalty minutes.
He did make 59 NHL appearances for the Ducks and Canucks in 2016-17. But in this case, Cramarossa is being brought in simply to provide some age diversity in Rockford, where 19 of the 22 skaters on the roster are 24-years-old or younger.
That was supposed to be Versteeg, but the 33-year-old forward and former Stanley Cup winner hit a mental and physical wall in this season’s early-going and elected to mutually terminate his AHL contract this past weekend.
Knott, meanwhile, was highly touted when drafted by the Hawks in the second round in 2015.
But the Ontario Hockey League product has proven to be a bust professionally. He made little impact in two seasons in Rockford and has spent his time this fall demoted to Indianapolis of the ECHL, although he recorded a solid nine points in 13 games there.
All in all, the swap is unlikely to ever make a ripple for the Hawks at the NHL level, but slightly reshuffles the dynamics of the minor-league affiliates.
