Golden Knights acquire Kruger in trade with Blackhawks

Gene J. Puskar / AP FILE

Chicago Blackhawks’ Marcus Kruger (16) celebrates his goal with Artemi Panarin (72) in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, March 29, 2017.

By Jesse Granger

Sunday, July 2, 2017 | 12:38 p.m.

The Golden Knights added a veteran defensive forward to its lineup today, getting Marcus Kruger from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for future considerations.

The deal had likely been done for weeks as part of the Golden Knights taking Trevor van Riemsdyk in the expansion draft. The Blackhawks have major salary cap issues and needed to unload Kruger’s $3.08 million cap hit.

Although Vegas will be taking on Kruger’s full cap hit this and next season, the Blackhawks paid the first $2 million to Kruger yesterday in the form of a signing bonus. Once that was paid the team was free to ship him to the Golden Knights.

The teams haven’t specified what Chicago will get in return, but expect it to be very minor. The salary cap space was what the Blackhawks really needed out of the deal.

Kruger, 27, isn’t much of an offensive threat. The center finished this year with only five goals and 12 assists. But as the fourth-line centerman on the Blackhawks he was a bruising, defensive forward that is also valuable on penalty kills.