The Chicago Blackhawks are in a transitional year. After drafting Connor Bedard first overall the Hawks now begin their climb out of the league's basement. That process is a slow one, especially with the salary cap not allowing teams to buy their way out of trouble.
This season the Hawks put a very heavy focus on playing the game the right way and being accountable. The Hawks have also put together an approach that allowed them to weaponize their cap space to take on other team's bad contracts. One of those deals allowed the Hawks to acquire Nikita Zaitsev from the Ottawa Senators.
Zaitsev has been a serviceable member of the Blackhawks since arriving. In 5 games this season Zaitsev has added 1 goal, while averaging around 15 minutes per night. Today the Blackhawks announced that Zaitsev was leaving the team at this time to handle a personal matter.
