Marcus Kruger inks 3 year extension with Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks inked pending restricted free agent Marcus Kruger to a cheap, one year deal right before the start of the 2015-16 NHL regular season – but with plenty of the year left to go, they’ve made sure to lock the forward up early this time.

The Blackhawks announced on Tuesday afternoon that they had inked Kruger, 25, to a three year contract extension set to kick in at the start of the 2016-17 campaign. The deal, per TSN’s Darren Dreger, will pay the forward a total of $9.25 million over the three year time span.

Drafted 149th overall by the Blackhawks at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, and he’s remained with the team ever since. A left shot centre with two way abilities, the recently re-signed Swedish forward boasts just one assist in 33 games this year, which boosts him to 28 goals and 85 points in 320 career NHL games.

The Blackhawks haven’t gotten to see as much of Kruger this year as they likely hoped ahead of his new deal, as he’s been out with a wrist injury that was expected to shut him down for the remainder of the regular season. Now, it looks like he may return early – and with a new, more secure contract in hand, he’ll have plenty of motivation to come back swinging.

With Kruger now locked down until the end of the 2018-19 season, the Blackhawks can now focus on some of their other pending contract renewals at hand. Another notable name needing a new deal before the start of next year is fellow forward Andrew Shaw, while the blue line only has five defenseman under contract for the start of next year.

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