Kings, Blackhawks swap Christian Ehrhoff for Rob Scuderi
The Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings have traded aging depth defensemen in hopes a change of scenery can give them a boost.
The teams made a deal with Los Angeles sending Christian Ehrhoff to the Blackhawks in exchange for Rob Scuderi. In mid-February, Scuderi cleared waivers and was sent to Chicago’s AHL affiliate in Rockford. He carries a $3.375 million salary cap hit, one-third of which was being paid by the Pittsburgh Penguins. This came to $2.25 million. He has one year left on his contract.
Ehrhoff was signed in the offseason for one year at $1.5 million by the Kings. He was placed on waivers by the Kings earlier in the month and sent to their AHL affiliate in Ontario.
According to TSN's Bob McKenzie Chicago will retain 50 percent of their share of Scuderi's salary and Los Angeles will keep 15 percent of Ehrhoff's.
Here is how that breaks down as far as salary cap hits for both teams.
So #Hawks keep $1.125M annual cap hit this year and next on Scuderi. #LAKings keep $225,000 annual on Ehrhoff, UFA at year's end.
— General Fanager (@generalfanager) February 26, 2016
The Penguins also are on the hook for $1.125 million of Scuderi's cap hit.
According to General Fanager, the Kings are slated to have near $2.1 million of salary cap space on trade deadline day.
The 37-year-old Scuderi had played for the Kings from 2009-10 through 2012-13 and was a key member on their 2012 Stanley Cup squad as a shutdown defender. Scuderi started the season in Pittsburgh, averaging 17:05 per-night. He was then sent to the Blackhawks as part of the deal that shipped off defenseman Trevor Daley. Scuderi hasn’t scored a point in three games with Rockford.
The 33-year-old Ehrhoff scored two goals and had eight assists in 40 games with the Kings. He was a minus-10. He became expendable after a January trade sent Luke Schenn to Los Angeles, and pushed Ehrhoff down the depth chart.
Throughout his career, Ehrhoff has been known as a solid puck-possession player in comparison to the other team and relative to his own team. According to War on Ice, since 2005-06 his CF% is 52.8 and his CF% Rel is plus-2.9.
The Blackhawks and Kings have alternated Stanley Cup victories since 2012 and are in first place in their divisions this season.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
