What kind of impact will Marcus Kruger have with Canes?

It’s hard to say how much of an impact Marcus Kruger will have with the Carolina Hurricanes.

With the Chicago Blackhawks, Kruger was a checking center, asked to do a lot of the dirty defensive work, taking key defensive-zone draws. It’s possible he may do the same for the Canes, taking on the duties that veteran Jay McClement handled the past few seasons, being used as either a third- or fourth-line center.

Kruger did win two Stanley Cups with Chicago. At 27, he is experienced and has played in big games. That’s why the Canes traded for him Tuesday.

“You always want to do as much as you can to help the team out, and I certainly want to take a step and get better and better,” Kruger said Wednesday in a conference call. “I’ll go there and take the opportunity that’s given. I’ll come in, be myself, help out and try to help the team be successful.

“That’s my mindset. We’ll see how it plays out.”

Canes general manager Ron Francis noted Kruger, who had five goals and 12 assists in 70 games last season in Chicago, was a point-producer as a junior player in Sweden but accepted more defensive responsibilities on the NHL level with the Blackhawks.

“He got a lot of tough assignments and handled those extremely well,” Francis said. “I think it shows the maturity of him as a person and as a player. For us, it’s the leadership ... and ability to show guys how the team is first and foremost.”

Kruger’s landing in Carolina was a bit convoluted. The scuttlebutt before the NHL expansion draft last month was that Kruger, left unprotected by the Blackhawks, either would be traded to the Vegas Golden Knights just ahead of the draft or taken in the draft by the NHL’s new team.

Instead, the Golden Knights picked Trevor van Riemsdyk, then traded the defenseman to Carolina for a second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. Kruger, after being paid a $2 million bonus Saturday by Chicago, was sent Sunday to Vegas in exchange for “future considerations.”

Then, the trade to Carolina.

“I didn’t expect anything and tried not to think about it too much,” Kruger said. “I knew the possibility was there. Whatever happens, happens. You never know.”

Kruger, drafted in the fifth round by Chicago in 2009, said his memories of the Cup runs in 2013 and 2015 would remain special, saying, “My first NHL game was big for me personally, but the two Stanley Cups and the road to them were unbelievable.”

Canes goalie Scott Darling and van Riemsdyk were a part of that Stanley Cup road in 2015 and were Kruger’s Chicago teammates last season. Forwards Teuvo Teravainen and Joakim Nordstrom also were members of the 2015 Blackhawks.

“You can never have enough guys in your room with playoff experience and more importantly playoff success,” Francis said.

Kruger also has a gold medal from the 2017 World Championship in Germany and France. The Canes’ Elias Lindholm and Victor Rask joined Kruger on the Swedish team that beat Canada for the gold.

“It’s obviously nice to know I’ll be familiar with some of the guys,” Kruger said. “It maybe makes the adjustment a little easier.”

Since season’s end, Francis has traded for and signed Darling to be the Canes’ No. 1 goalie. He signed free-agent forward Justin Williams, a three-time Cup winner and one of the heroes from Carolina’s 2006 Cup run. He traded for van Riemsdyk and now Kruger.

Is that it for the Canes in the offseason?

“I think we’ve made a lot of changes since the end of the season, and we’re comfortable with where we are now,” Francis said. “If anything came along that made us better, we’d look at it but I don’t have anything, per se, in the hopper.”

This story was originally published July 5, 2017 at 4:57 PM with the headline "What kind of impact will Marcus Kruger have with Canes?."