Has Taylor Raddysh Played his Final Game for the Chicago Blackhawks?

When June 28th comes to an end, the Chicago Blackhawks deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning will have finally been completed. The deal for Brandon Hagel was commonly lauded as an overwhelming success as Chicago netted 2 NHL forwards and 2 first rounds picks for the young winger.

Fast forward to today and Boris Katchouk was picked up on waivers (4 points in 16 games with Ottawa since changing teams) and Taylor Raddysh has been scratched from the last two games on the schedule (Stars and Wild). Before that, in an average of 14:53 on the ice, his last 4 games he had 0 points on 0 shots on goal. So in just under an hour on the ice, Taylor Raddysh had 3 shots with 0 on net in 76 shifts for the Blackhawks. That can't happen without consequences. Especially with some young players looking for more of a showing in the final stretch of the season (Landon Slaggert notably).

Raddysh, just 26 years old, is still on his 3 year deal he signed with Tampa Bay. The restricted free agent (RFA status, arbitration eligible) has one of (if not the lowest) the lower contracts for his age as a full time NHL player in the league. Still, given the recent demotion it looks like Chicago may not engage in retaining the former 2nd round draft pick (58th overall in 2016).

The proof is in the production. Last season, Raddysh was a 20 goal scorer (37 points in 78 games) and while getting ample opportunity this season the talented forward has only 5 goals in 70 games. While the Blackhawks sport one of the worst rosters in the NHL it seems that (especially with Taylor Hall's injury) there should have been a spot for Raddysh to skate with Connor Bedard and Philipp Kurashev (the team's top 2 scorers). Simply put, he couldn't do enough to hold the coaching staff's attention in securing such a valuable spot in the lineup.

So while Taylor Raddysh may come in at another low number for 1 year, the Blackhawks may opt to give that ice time to some of their young forwards ready for a bigger opportunity. Landen Slaggert is on the roster, Nick Lardis and Frank Nazar are on the horizon.... and Taylor Raddysh may have already played his final game as a Chicago Blackhawk.