Chicago Blackhawks Acquire Kruger, 3 Others, Draft Pick From Arizona

The Chicago Blackhawks were able to move Marian Hossa‘s contract on Thursday, and the Arizona Coyotes gave the Blackhawks a familiar face a multiple other pieces in return

The first part of today’s Chicago Blackhawks drama was the knowledge the team would send, at least, the combination of Vinnie Hinostroza, Jordan Oesterle and Marian Hossa’s contract to Arizona for something.

Now, the rest of that trade has been confirmed.

All right, let’s unpack this deal.

What do the Blackhawks get?

Marcus Kruger, obviously, is a known commodity. He was moved from the Blackhawks to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 as a measure to get under the salary cap. Kruger eventually went to Carolina, and then to Arizona.

Formerly the Blackhawks’ third-line center, he’s currently on the last year of a three-season deal that pays him just over $3 million. It’s interesting the Blackhawks would take on a cap hit like that for a known bottom-six player, but considering they just freed up space by moving Hossa’s contract, it makes a little more sense.

The other three players the Blackhawks got are relative unknowns, at least to a majority of Blackhawks fans.

MacKenzie Entwistle is just 18 years old. He’s a right wing who was drafted by Arizona in 2017’s third round (69th overall … nice). He’s spent the last three seasons with the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs, posting a career-best 38 points last regular season and 17 more in just 21 playoff games.

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Jordan Maletta is an older prospect, checking in at 23 years of age. He’s a center by trade and has spent the last last two years in the AHL. Between the Cleveland Monsters and Tucson Roadrunners last season, Maletta collected just four points in 29 games.

Andrew Campbell isn’t really a prospect at this point, as he’s 30 years old and has played professionally since 2005-06. The defenseman carded six points last year in 60 AHL games and has limited NHL experience with Arizona, Toronto and Los Angeles.

The draft pick is just a slightly later version of the one the Blackhawks sent to Arizona. As of now, it doesn’t really mean much because it’s not a first-rounder.

What do the Blackhawks give up?

The biggest thing is they get Hossa’s salary off the books. They’ve now freed up more cap space, and have roughly $8.5 million of it right now, per Cap Friendly.

Losing Hinostroza is the toughest part of this, though it could’ve been far worse. The Blackhawks could’ve had to part with someone like Nick Schmaltz or Dylan Sikura in a similar situation.

Hinostroza was coming into his own with the Blackhawks, but he’s not an irreplaceable piece. As I mentioned in the first post today about this trade, this is not a Teuvo Teravainen situation. Hinostroza was proving solid, but there’s not even a guarantee he’s a long-term NHLer.

Losing Oesterle doesn’t mean anything, especially considering the Blackhawks have ample young defensive prospects in the system. They were just clearing both cap and roster space with this move.

Next: Blackhawks' Bad Offseason Begs For Concrete Plan

We’ll have more in the coming days about what this trade means and what the Blackhawks could do with their newfound cap space.