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Blackhawks’ Bickell is frustrated with himself this season

It’s been an eventful year for Blackhawks forward Bryan Bickell, and not in a good way.

Not only did the ‘Hawks send him down for a stint in the AHL, but when he has been in the NHL, he just hasn’t produced.

Bickell is one of Chicago’s healthy scratches in tonight’s game against the Colorado. If you think that has him more frustrated than before, you’d be wrong. He can’t be any more frustrated.

“I think it’s always been there, since the start of the year,” Bickell said of his frustration level, per the Sun-Times. “Getting sent down and coming back, feeling good about my game, and then I basically came back to where I started. I just need to chip away and do what they tell me.”

General Manager Stan Bowman has attempted to trade Bickell, but his $4 million cap has made him impossible to move.

Bickell cashed in on a four-year, $16 million deal after he scored 17 points in 23 games during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Unfortunately for the ‘Hawks, he hasn’t able to produce at the same rate since signing the deal.

“It is frustrating to be in that position, knowing that it’s probably tough to do what you want to do in those type of minutes,” head coach Joel Quenneville said. “But at the same time, the opportunity to get more, playing those type of minutes, is in place. You’ve got to try to regain or get some more opportunity based on performance.”

The 29-year-old has two assists in 23 games in ’15-16.

Per General Fanager’s buyout calculator, If Chicago was to buy out Bickell’s contract after this season, he would count for $1 million on their 2016-17 cap and $1.5 million on their 2017-18 cap.