Injury Report: Kruger anticipated to be out for four months from 12/18/15 (wrist)

[Kurtosis]

I really don't think that this is that huge of a loss.

 

[JaegerDice]

It will undoubtedly have ripple effects. The Kruger line was taking a ton of tough starts that Quenneville has roughly zero chance of trusting to a rookie.

I see two possibilities:

1) Andrew Shaw is assigned Krugers center duty and takes on the tough starts. This would of course be an unmitigated disaster, but would ho unchanged until Kruger returns, because Shaw is Q's boy.

2) The 1st and possibly 2nd line starts seeing a significant uptick in the difficulty of their starts, taking up the slack for Kruger. This puts undo stress on an already exhausted looking Toews and Hossa and limits the 2nd line's offensive output.

Doesnt mean that the Hawks are going to crater their way out of the playoffs, but they're definitely worse thanks to this injury.

 

[featherhawk]

Interesting to see what happens here. I love Kruger and really appreciate what he brings to this team. But on the other hand, I have a theory that this coaching staff has a very particular role that he plays and that any player that has a certain skill set can play it well. I also feel that Danault has been groomed for this role in Rockford. It will be interesting to see how he does on the big stage.

agreed, pretty sure that the Coaching staff in the Rock have been grooming Danault to be Krugers replacement and he has more offensive skills/instincts than Kruger does...

I think Danault is going to be a solid hawk contributor for years to come, I just wish he had a bit more time after his injury but **** happens and Kruger is out....

 

[featherhawk]

It will undoubtedly have ripple effects. The Kruger line was taking a ton of tough starts that Quenneville has roughly zero chance of trusting to a rookie.

I see two possibilities:

1) Andrew Shaw is assigned Krugers center duty and takes on the tough starts. This would of course be an unmitigated disaster, but would ho unchanged until Kruger returns, because Shaw is Q's boy.

2) The 1st and possibly 2nd line starts seeing a significant uptick in the difficulty of their starts, taking up the slack for Kruger. This puts undo stress on an already exhausted looking Toews and Hossa and limits the 2nd line's offensive output.

Doesnt mean that the Hawks are going to crater their way out of the playoffs, but they're definitely worse thanks to this injury.

maybe but we could see this which I think would be alright...

Bickell-Rasmusson-Garbutt
Desi-Danault-Shaw

I and it seems everyone else does not want to see shaw at C.....

 

[Cubs2024WSChamps]

I think Krugs has been nursing and injury since game one.

Get this guy rest. Gonna need him in the playoffs.

 

[ChiTownCode]

One player has 55pts in 111 regular season NHL games. A point percentage of .495.

The other has 25pts in 66 regular season NHL games. A point percentage of .379.

The better of the two can also PK and play a more two way role.

You and Victor Rask can suck it(You don't have to suck it but Rask does)... TT is finally hitting his stride.

 

[ChiTownCode]

I love what he has brought to the Hawks in the past and what he has accomplished with us but let's be honest Krugs was bad all year, It's not like we are missing anything vital at this point.

Krugs may have worn the Indian Head for the last time if one of the youngsters step up and into his role.

 

[Blackhawks]

I love what he has brought to the Hawks in the past and what he has accomplished with us but let's be honest Krugs was bad all year, It's not like we are missing anything vital at this point.

Krugs may have worn the Indian Head for the last time if one of the youngsters step up and into his role.

Ok but Toews had been bad for most of the year too, so can he get back to his form and Kruger cant? I am sure Kruger is gonna be playoff Kruger of past years once again. Short memories...

 

[ChiTownCode]

Ok but Toews had been bad for most of the year too, so can he get back to his form and Kruger cant? I am sure Kruger is gonna be playoff Kruger of past years once again. Short memories...

I agree with the Toews thing too but even Toews at his worst is still far and away Kruger's superior.

If Kruger comes back to his normal self in the post and plays well I will happily eat my own words.

 

[Pez68]

Looks like he will be back right around the time the playoffs start, which is good. makes you wonder if the Hawks will go after a bottom 6 C, as I don't think Q will trust 2 young guys centering the bottom 6 for the rest of the year.

Seriously....no... It's time to see what the hell the Hawks have in the system. These kids have put in their time, give them a shot, and let them earn a spot. Kruger will likely price himself off the Hawks next season anyway. You can't pay a 4th liner 2+ million a season. I don't care how good a PKer and good soldier he is. His offense is absolutely non-existent.

The fourth line, when you are as top heavy as the Hawks are, needs to be cheap, young players.

Bring on Danault. I thought it was time to move on after last season, but Kruger was brought back. This could be a blessing in disguise. I think Danault will be a better player when all is said and done.

 

[Pez68]

Also, why do the Hawks need a center? Desjardins is a natural center... He could very easily move into the 4C spot. They just need a bottom six player... There should be PLENTY of guys to choose from in Rockford.

 

[tdfxman]

Andrew Ladd. If the Jets are out of the playoffs, Ladd will be available. $4.4M per, so Hawks can easily fit him in.

Kruger's at $1.5 and Danault makes $863,333. So there's an extra $636,667 to play with.

There is 60% left so season, so we get 60% of that differential as cap space savings between the 2 players.

So we have .6Mx.6=360,000 if it was danault the rest of the way.

So add that to our cap savings, gets us to almost 2M in clear space. We also have Keith's time when he didn't count on the cap. He missed 10 games? So 12% of this cap hit didn't count, add that and that is what we have. .66M- someone we paid, so again another maybe .3M in space from Keith.

We have low 2's in cap space, 2,2M rough estimate.

2/29 is trade deadline and that leaves 78% of season's games played so we pay roughly 22% of the cap hit of a guy we want.

So even a 7M dollar player would count on our cap at less than 1.7 for the rest of the year.

I mean having cap space at the end of the year allows some nice additions. Really nice. I mean almost anyone if fitable at this point it's now what do we want to give up.

next year looks even better for us with panara a year better and TT a year better, and maybe Dano figures out how to be a pro. So do we go all in this year knowing next year is a better chance to win. Hard to tell now at least, but we have in the low 2M in cap space to spend if we want to add at the TD.

EDIT: Trade for Mikkel Boedker? UFA next year for Az, they will be sellers. I would assume his rental wouldn't cost much.

 

[CPHawksFan]

Just hope his wrist doesn't give him problems for the rest of his career

 

[CallMeShaft]

You and Victor Rask can suck it(You don't have to suck it but Rask does)... TT is finally hitting his stride.

Why I outta!....

I agree about Teuvo. He's getting better as the season comes along. However, just looking at it on a basis of needs, Hawks would probably be better off with Rask instead.

He plays a game closer to Toews and Hossa, can play both center and LW (unlike TT who is a RW playing the left side), his offensive production wouldn't be much different, and he could be used in all situations.

Still, I'm happy (and content) with Tuevo.

 

[sketch22]

We also have Keith's time when he didn't count on the cap. He missed 10 games? So 12% of this cap hit didn't count, add that and that is what we have. .66M- someone we paid, so again another maybe .3M in space from Keith.

That is not how LTIR works. The cap space the Hawks gained from Keith being on LTIR only existed while Keith was on LTIR. The second he came back that extra cap space ceased to exist. LTIR is a flat rate that allows a team to spend above the cap for the period of time that the player is injured. Once the played comes back from injury the team must once again be cap compliant.

 

[Salvaged Ship]

I appreciate Kruger and all he has done with the Hawks but lets face it, he has struggled mightily this season. He is not out there to score much but the guy is on pace to score 2 points for the entire season. He has 0 goals, 1 assist, and is a -5.

I think we can put together a 4th line that can defend well, even without Kruger. He will be missed on the PK and in faceoffs but if the 4th line can start producing a few goals it will make up for it. And most important, we now have flexibilty to bring in a quality player if Kruger is out until the playoffs. This roster is not looking like a cup contender as it stands but now we can bring in a quality player and have Kruger ready to start the playoffs. Its likely that without Kane's injury and the ability to bring in Vermette we don't win the cup last season. We have that opportunity now.

 

[BrianE]

I appreciate Kruger and all he has done with the Hawks but lets face it, he has struggled mightily this season. He is not out there to score much but the guy is on pace to score 2 points for the entire season. He has 0 goals, 1 assist, and is a -5.

I think we can put together a 4th line that can defend well, even without Kruger. He will be missed on the PK and in faceoffs but if the 4th line can start producing a few goals it will make up for it. And most important, we now have flexibilty to bring in a quality player if Kruger is out until the playoffs. This roster is not looking like a cup contender as it stands but now we can bring in a quality player and have Kruger ready to start the playoffs. Its likely that without Kane's injury and the ability to bring in Vermette we don't win the cup last season. We have that opportunity now.

Pretty much agree with Salvaged post, Kruger has really struggled, i mean all of us are in favor of his D abilities but there comes a time when he at least has to chip in offensively, this season so far has been none of that in the meantime hope he recovers well.

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

Call me crazy but I've always assumed that Stan has a deal with Kruger already but needed him to take less this year with the understanding that he'd come back after that. I expect him to sign a 2-3 year deal this off season.

 

[BK]

Why I outta!....

I agree about Teuvo. He's getting better as the season comes along. However, just looking at it on a basis of needs, Hawks would probably be better off with Rask instead.

He plays a game closer to Toews and Hossa, can play both center and LW (unlike TT who is a RW playing the left side), his offensive production wouldn't be much different, and he could be used in all situations.

Still, I'm happy (and content) with Tuevo.

Rask is a good player but TT is more of what we need. Rask is a center so his cost would be way too high and why trade for someone/overpay when we are just going ot switch positions on him.

 

[tdfxman]

That is not how LTIR works. The cap space the Hawks gained from Keith being on LTIR only existed while Keith was on LTIR. The second he came back that extra cap space ceased to exist. LTIR is a flat rate that allows a team to spend above the cap for the period of time that the player is injured. Once the played comes back from injury the team must once again be cap compliant.

Keith's daily cap hit is allowed to be counted so u go over the cap like u say. Keith's credit doesn't go away was my understanding

 

[SAADfather]

Call me crazy but I've always assumed that Stan has a deal with Kruger already but needed him to take less this year with the understanding that he'd come back after that. I expect him to sign a 2-3 year deal this off season.

Yeah but if Danault steps up and does Kruger's job about as well as Kruger, a promise isn't gonna mean much when his replacement is making half his salary and Kruger can be traded for assets. Again that's a big if though.

 

[bwana63]

Call me crazy but I've always assumed that Stan has a deal with Kruger already but needed him to take less this year with the understanding that he'd come back after that. I expect him to sign a 2-3 year deal this off season.

Hardly crazy. Certain you're right.

Yeah but if Danault steps up and does Kruger's job about as well as Kruger, a promise isn't gonna mean much when his replacement is making half his salary and Kruger can be traded for assets. Again that's a big if though.

That's the crux of the biscuit.

 

[Bubba88]

I really don't think that this is that huge of a loss.

you have to look at the big Picture. Krüger is our main PK guy. Now, you have Toews and Anisimov doing all the PK work.

You don't want your 2 Top Line Cs playing on the PK all the time.

 

[SAADfather]

you have to look at the big Picture. Krüger is our main PK guy. Now, you have Toews and Anisimov doing all the PK work.

You don't want your 2 Top Line Cs playing on the PK all the time.

At the same time Kruger saw a lot of hard minutes down the stretch of that run. He hasn't looked like himself this season so far. Maybe this break will rejuvenate him before playoffs.

And Arty being a big cog on the PK is only temporary. As soon as Danault earns Q's trust he's going to be on the PK.

 

[Bubba88]

Danault Needs to earn that trust... this may take 2 months.