Blackhawks free up salary with Versteeg trade, finally sign Marcus Kruger
For the second straight season, the Chicago Blackhawks shed salary just before the season in order to get their cap situation in order.
The Blackhawks sent a 2017 third-rounder, Kris Versteeg and his Stanley Cup parade rap partner, Joakim Nordstrom, to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for defensemen Dennis Robertson and Jake Massie, along with a 2017 fifth-round pick.
“Kris is a skilled forward who has won a pair of Cups with the Blackhawks and can provide veteran leadership in our room,” said Hurricanes GM Ron Francis. “Joakim is a solid, 200-foot player who can kill penalties. This gives us more options up front for this season, while also now giving us 10 picks in the first three rounds over the next two drafts.”
This trade is the definition of a salary dump, and GM Stan Bowman freed up $2.4 million in space, which allowed the team to re-sign restricted free agent Marcus Kruger to a one-year deal on Friday. Kruger had been waiting all summer for the Blackhawks' cap situation to clear up and while he probably would have liked a longer deal, it was obvious he wanted to stay in Chicago.
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Versteeg scored 24 goals and 63 points over two seasons in his second stint with the Blackhawks. Nordstrom, who had just signed a one-year extension last week, played 38 games last season and three in the playoffs and is set to become an RFA next summer.
If you’re keeping track of those who have departed the Blackhawks this season, joining Versteeg and Nordstrom are Kimmo Timonen (retired), Patrick Sharp (traded to Dallas), Johnny Oduya (signed with Dallas), Brandon Saad (traded and signed with Columbus), Antti Raanta (traded to New York Rangers), Antoine Vermette (signed with Arizona), Brad Richards (signed with Detroit), while Daniel Carclllo, Kyle Cumiskey and Michal Rozsival all remain on the UFA market.
Then there's Patrick Kane, who at the moment is a giant question mark.
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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