A pair of former Edmonton Oilers landed on waivers Monday morning, as the Chicago Blackhawks waived Andreas Athanasiou and the Toronto Maple Leafs Matt Benning.
Benning, 30, was the longest-serving Oiler of the pair, joining the team as a free agent out of college in August 2016. He jumped into the Oilers lineup immediately and was a solid blueliner for the team for all four years he was in town. His sophomore 2017-18 season may have been his best, scoring six goals and 21 points.
The Oilers, however, would choose to let Benning walk as a free agent in 2020, before he signed with the Nashville Predators, spending two years there on a $1-million deal, before once again signing with a new team in free agency, this time the San Jose Sharks. Inking there in summer 2022 to a four-year, $1.25-million AAV deal, Benning spent two seasons there and seven games to start this season, before he was traded alongside a third-round pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Timothy Liljegren and a sixth-round pick.
Athanasiou’s time was much shorter in Edmonton, lasting all of nine regular season games, and four in the playoffs. The Oilers traded for him at the 2020 deadline, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic paused the NHL’s season, sending second-round picks in both 2020 and 2021 with Sam Gagner to the Motor City for Athanasiou and AHL’er Ryan Kuffner.
The trade was nothing short of disastrous for the Oilers, as Athanasiou, a pending unrestricted free agent, would walk in free agency, signing a one-year, $1.2-million contract with the Los Angeles Kings, scoring 10 goals and 23 points in 47 games. He earned another one-year deal with them worth $2.7-million, scoring 11 goals and 17 points, but he played just 28 games that season.
He would land with the Chicago Blackhawks in free agency in 2022, signing a one-year, $3-million deal. The injury bug continued to bite the winger with a groin injury, who scored just two goals and nine points in 28 games. Despite the lack of games, Chicago gave him a significant extension, signing him to a two-year, $4.25-million AAV deal this past June.
This year? Athanasiou has played in just five games.
Other waiver news Monday saw the Colorado Avalanche place Kaapo Kahkonen there. He signed a one-year, $1-million deal with the Winnipeg Jets this summer, placed on waivers not long into the season, getting claimed by the Avalanche who have battled goaltending issues this season.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
