Chicago Blackhawks Claim Forward Andrew Ebbett From Anaheim

Today it was announced that the Chicago Blackhawks have claimed forward Andrew Ebbett from the Anaheim Ducks.

Ebbett played on the Ducks second line last season and was impressive in his 48 games with the Ducks scoring 8 goals and 32 assists.

The problem for Ebbett this season was finding time in the Ducks top six forwards with the likes of Ryan Getzlaf, Saku Koivu, Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan, Teemu Selanne and Joffery Lupul all sitting in front of him on the depth chart.

The move is an interesting one as it adds another smaller stature forward that should play on any teams top nine, but the Blackhawks already have plenty of top nine forwards, maybe too many.

Ebbett will likely be challenging Tomas Kopecky, Colin Fraser, Troy Brouwer, and Jack Skille for playing time. He will need to make an impression on Joel Quenneville early if he hopes to get ice time.

What this move does is allow the Blackhawks to return forward Jack Skille to the AHL for good, as his cap hit is far too high. Ebbett’s cap hit on the other hand is rather low at $487,000, $788,000 lower than Skille’s cap hit of $1,250,000.

I believe that Ebbett could fit on a line with the likes of John Madden and Andrew Ladd creating a well rounded third line. This would allow Kris Versteeg to move back up to the “1A” line with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp.

If Ebbett can find regular playing time with the Blackhawks in their top nine then I think that this could be a very wise pick up for the Blackhawks. If Ebbett plays his cards right could find his way onto the team in 2010 with the massive turnover that is expected to happen.