The Blackhawks needed to get under the NHL's salary cap and to do that, the Hawks traded center Marcus Kruger to the Vegas Golden Knights, the team announced Sunday.
In return the Hawks will receive "future considerations," which is one way of saying salary-cap space, from the Knights. The return isn't as consequential to the Hawks. They got what they needed out of this deal _ Kruger's cap hit off their books.
"We thank Marcus for his many contributions to our team _ most notably, two Stanley Cup Championships," general manager Stan Bowman said in a statement. "His work ethic, reliability and strength as a two-way player made him a valuable member of the organization. We wish him the best with Vegas."
Kruger helped the Hawks win Cups in 2013 and 2015 thanks to his defensive and penalty killing abilities.
Kruger just completed the first year of a three-year deal that carries a cap hit of $3.083 million. The Hawks were over the cap by about $2.1 million prior to Kruger's trade, according to CapFriendly.com, so dealing Kruger helps get the Hawks under the cap for next season. This way the Hawks will be able to put Marian Hossa on injured reserve once the season begins and use the cap space they will get by the transaction to make moves in season.
Kruger played in parts of seven seasons with the Hawks after they drafted him in the fifth round of the 2009 entry draft. He scored 33 goals and tallied 72 assists in 398 games. His most memorable goal came when he scored the winner in triple overtime in Game 2 of the 2015 Western Conference finals against the Ducks.
But his cap hit was a large one for a team to absorb given that Kruger isn't a goal scorer, hence the lack of return for the Hawks.
It's similar to the trade the Hawks made last year that sent Bryan Bickell and Teuvo Treravainen to the Hurricanes so the Hawks could move Bickell's salary.
This deal was expected since last month and was reportedly part of a package deal the Hawks made to allow the Knights to take defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk in the expansion draft.
The Knights then flipped van Riemsdyk and a seventh-round pick to the Hurricanes in exchange for a second-round pick, a return that mystified some Hawks fans. It took until now to complete the deal because Kruger was owed a $2 million signing bonus on July 1 the Hawks paid.
But in order to move Kruger, the Hawks had to sacrifice van Riemsdyk. That way they wouldn't have to move any other player in a separate deal involving Kruger.
The Hawks signed three forwards on Saturday _ Patrick Sharp, Tommy Wingels and Lance Bouma _ so they could afford to move a forward. The Hawks have Kruger's replacement in the wings in center Tanner Kero, whom they signed to a two-year extension worth just $750,000 last season. Kero is also a defensive center who can play on the bottom lines and help kill penalties.
With Sharp's addition it might allow Nick Schmaltz to drop down to the third-line center position with Kero on the fourth line.
