Three veteran NHL players were granted waivers on Monday.

Benning was acquired by the Maple Leafs on October 30 in the Timothy Liljegren trade with the San Jose Sharks. Benning, a veteran of 464 NHL games, has not played a game with the Maple Leafs since the trade.

Athanasiou has struggled to get into the Blackhawks lineup this season and has no points in five games. Last season, he was limited to just two goals and nine points in 28 games due to a groin injury.

“I just think his injury last year kept him out a lot last year. He missed a lot of hockey then and unfortunately he wasn’t clicking on all cylinders this year, not in the lineup as much. He hasn’t really done that .” played a lot of games,” Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said Monday morning, according to WGN Radio’s Charlie Roumeliotis. “So that was the message: If you get busted, it’s probably good for you. That means you’re going to play in the NHL. But if not, we need him to just go and play a few games and fine-tune his skills.” His confidence really isn’t there for that.”

This marks the second time this season that Kahkonen has been placed on waivers, as the Avalanche claimed him from the Winnipeg Jets on October 11. Kahkonen has made one start for the Avalanche and two starts for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles this season.