Feb. 27--A day after the Blackhawks traded for Andrew Ladd, they kept making moves before Monday's trade deadline and dealt defenseman Rob Scuderi to the Kings for defenseman Christian Ehrhoff.
The Hawks acquired Scuderi, 37, in December in a trade with the Penguins for Trevor Daley but Scuderi, who played in 17 games for the Hawks, struggled to get on the ice after the All-Star break. The Hawks placed him on waivers and then sent him down to Rockford Feb. 17. Scuderi, whose contract runs through next season, previously played four seasons with the Kings and won a Stanley Cup with them in 2012.
The move would seem to be about two teams taking a chance on defensemen who have fallen out of favor with their most recent teams. Ehrhoff, 33, is an unrestricted free agent after this season but has also been stuck in the AHL with the Ontario Reign since Feb. 11.
The Hawks retained two-thirds ($2.25 million) of Scuderi's $3.375 million-cap hit in the trade with the Penguins and buried $950,000 of that in sending Scuderi to Rockford.
As far as the salary cap and how it affects the Hawks, the math can get complicated, but it appears the Hawks are taking on a slightly bigger cap hit this year of $175,000 for a slightly smaller one next year of $175,000 if they had kept Scuderi buried in Rockford.
Ehrhoff's cap hit is $1.5 million. The Hawks retained 50 percent of their obligation on Scuderi's cap while the Kings retained 15 percent of Ehrhoff's salary, putting the Hawks on the hook for $1.275 million.
This means Scuderi's cap hit is $1.125 each for the Penguins, Kings and Hawks. If Ehrhoff is on the Hawks roster, the total cap hit for the Hawks is $2.4 million, which is slightly more than if Scuderi was on the roster. But if the Hawks do not re-sign Ehrhoff, their cap hit on Scuderi next season is $1.125 million, slightly less than the $1.3 million if they had kept Scuderi in Rockford.
Ehrhoff has played in 40 games for the Kings this season and averaged 15 minutes, 10 seconds of ice time per games.
The Hawks are also active in finding a winger to play alongside Teuvo Teravainen, a source told the Tribune. They also placed winger Jiri Sekac on waivers. Sekac was acquired from Anaheim in January in a trade for Ryan Garbutt.
Chris Kuc contributed to this report
