Bryan Bickell expected to start season with Blackhawks after clearing waivers

Bryan Bickell cleared waivers but will start the season with the Chicago Blackhawks.

According to Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune, coach Joel Quenneville said Bickell will indeed stay with Chicago rather than being sent to Rockford of the American Hockey League

"I think organizationally we know Bicks can bring a lot to our team," Quenneville said. "I think he can be a factor and we need him to be."

Said Bickell per Hine, "I'm just taking it as an awakening, set a fire."

Shipping the 6-foot-4, 223-pound Bickell to the American Hockey League would have given the Blackhawks some desperately needed salary cap relief. According to General Fanager, the Hawks are over the $71.4 million salary cap by approximately $189,710. Bickell has two seasons left at an average of $4 million per-year on a four-year $16 million contract.

The Blackhawks have10 regular season games or 30 days where they can send Bickell to Rockford without him having to clear waivers according to General Fanager.

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Per CSN Chicago from a Friday story:

If he is not claimed by 11 a.m. Saturday, Bickell will likely go to the Rockford IceHogs; that would give the Blackhawks approximately $950,000 of cap space and the remaining $3.05 million would be buried salary, according to generalfanager.com.

The Blackhawks had tried to trade Bickell, 29, during the summer to unload his salary but couldn’t find the right deal.

Sportsnet’s Mark Spector said Chicago had tried to deal Bickell to Edmonton earlier in the week.

Bickell received his contract after Chicago’s 2013 Stanley Cup run. In that postseason he notched 17 points in 28 games. Since then, he hasn’t replicated the same success with 43 points in 139 regular season games. He didn’t score a goal in the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs, though he missed some time with vertigo symptoms.

There were questions as to whether vertigo had something to do with this move. In training camp, Bickell said he was still having trouble with the issue, though he was doing better.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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