NEW YORK — The Blackhawks claimed defenseman Jaycob Megna off waivers from the Kraken on Wednesday.
The move provides some additional depth on defense, where the Hawks have had AHL call-ups Isaak Phillips and Louis Crevier planted on the NHL roster — giving them four de facto rookies alongside Alex Vlasic and Kevin Korchinski — during Seth Jones’ absence.
The Hawks’ wave of forward injuries has decimated their depth at that position, too, but Megna was the only player available on waivers Wednesday. His brother Jayson is a forward, but he’s playing for the Bruins’ AHL affiliate.
Anthony Beauvillier is the latest Hawk forward to land on injury reserve after his left wrist was smashed into the boards during the Hawks’ loss Tuesday against the Predators. Taylor Hall, Andreas Athanasiou, Joey Anderson, Tyler Johnson and Taylor Raddysh are all already sidelined.
Megna, 31, touts 141 games of NHL experience over the past seven seasons, mainly with the Ducks and Sharks. In San Jose in 2021-22, his best NHL season, he tallied 12 points in 48 games and had the second-best on-ice scoring-chance ratio on the team, behind only Erik Karlsson.
He hadn’t made it into an NHL game yet this year with the Kraken, however, instead sitting around as their extra defenseman. He carries a small salary-cap hit of $762,500 on a contract that expires after this season.
Joining the Hawks represents a homecoming. He was born in Florida but grew up in the Chicago suburbs and attended Glenbrook North.
