Chicago Blackhawks extend Marcus Kruger for three years

Marcus Kruger and the Chicago Blackhawks have agreed to a three year extension

The Chicago Blackhawks are a team that live closely to the salary cap. They are able to do so because they tend to find the best time possible to extend players who they wish to keep. Chicago has done it again as they have extended center Marcus Kruger to a three year extension despite currently being injured.

From Blackhawks.com:

"Kruger, 25, registered one assist in 33 games with Chicago this season, prior to being placed on Injured Reserve on Dec. 28. The two-time Stanley Cup champion recorded 17 points (7G, 10A) in 81 games with the Blackhawks last season en route to the 2015 Stanley Cup championship."

For the Blackhawks, players like Marcus Kruger are extremely important. A huge reason for the success of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane is that they are able to be put in situations where they can succeed. That couldn’t happen without players like Kruger who can have consistent success despite not being put in the most favorable positions.

Kruger had the third lowest offensive zone start percentage of any center to play at least 500 minutes at even strength last season while maintaining a shot attempt for percentage of over 50%. That’s quite remarkable. He will be getting $9.25 million over three seasons, which is roughly market value for a guy like Kruger.

Chicago might have slightly overpaid but Kruger’s a guy who head coach Joel Quenneville trusts a lot and no one can navigate the storms that salary cap issues bring better than general manager Stan Bowman.