Blackhawks place Nikita Zaitsev on injured reserve

The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that they have placed defenseman Nikita Zaitsev on the injured reserve with a right knee injury.

Zaitsev left Tuesday night’s game against the San Jose Sharks. He finished the game with a hit in 8:46 of ice time, with the Blackhawks up 1-0 at his time of departure.

The Moscow, Russia product has had one of his more productive seasons with Chicago this year when he’s played, with 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points in 25 games. He’s on pace for 22 points in an 82-game season, which would be the highest-scoring season of his career since his 36-point rookie season in 2016-17.

Zaitsev was an undrafted free agent signing out of the KHL by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he spent three seasons in Toronto before he was dealt to the Ottawa Senators in 2019 as a cap dump. He then spent parts of four seasons in Ottawa before he was dealt again at the 2023 trade deadline to the Blackhawks, again as a cap dump.

Zaitsev has found himself as a cap dump on more than one occasion due to his current contract, a seven-year deal with a $4.5 million cap hit originally signed in Toronto after his rookie season. He’s now in the final year of that deal, and he will be an unrestricted free agent in the 2024 offseason.

Meanwhile, the Blackhawks have recalled defenseman Louis Crevier from the Rockford IceHogs in the American Hockey League (AHL). Creiver has three assists in 13 games this season.