The Chicago Blackhawks have been without depth defensive centre Marcus Kruger for the last three months, and the Swedish-born forward sat out with a wrist injury that was expected to practically end his season.
Now, he’s back in the lineup – and just in time to finish off the team’s regular season campaign and hit the playoffs running.
Drafted 149th overall by the Blackhawks in 2009, Kruger has developed a niche role on the Central Division club as one of the team’s best defensive forwards. Although he’s been limited to tough bottom six minutes, he’s a great shot suppressor – and although be boasts no goals and one assist through 33 games for the club prior to his injury, the Blackhawks are hopefully prepared to give him more responsibility once he returns.
The 25 year old forward will be back on Saturday night when the Blackhawks face the Calgary Flames, looking to come back from a tough 6-2 loss to the Dallas Stars earlier this week. Having Kruger back should be a plus, as the team already showed their enthusiasm for keeping him around with a recent three year extension set to kick in at the start of the 2016-17 season.
The Blackhawks and the Flames will face off at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Satuday evening at 8:00 PM MST. The Blackhawks enter the game sitting third in the Central Division, with six losses in their last seven games.
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