The Blackhawks didn’t have space for defenseman Brandon Manning, or his contract, in their lineup and unloaded him in a trade with the Oilers this afternoon.
They sent Manning and prospect Robin Norell to Edmonton for left wing Drake Caggiula and defenseman Jason Garrison. The move nets the Hawks $750,000 in salary cap space for the upcoming offseason.
Caggiula, 24, is a third-year player who had seven goals and four assist in 29 games for Edmonton, averaging 14:03 ice time per game. He’s under contract through the 2019-20 season. The Hawks targeted him as a college free agent in 2016.
Garrison, 34, is in his 11th season and played 17 of the Oilers’ 38 games. He’s on an expiring contract.
Manning was a healthy scratch the last eight games as coach Jeremy Colliton settled into a top six among the defensemen. Carl Dahlstrom, called up from Rockford three weeks ago, has been playing ahead of him.
“Right now it’s a bit of a case that the guys who are in have played really well,” Colliton said Thursday when asked how Manning could earn ice time. “So we like our D group, currently, and we’ve had some success results-wise.”
Manning signed a two-year, $4.5 million deal last summer coming off two solid seasons with Philadelphia, but wasn’t a favorite of Colliton or Joel Quenneville. He was a healthy scratch for six games before this recent layoff.
Sun-Times staff writer Satchel Price contributed to this story.
