Versteeg goes to Hurricanes — Kruger returns to Hawks

Kris Versteeg has played a part in two of the three Stanley Cup championships with the Chicago Blackhawks, but he will miss the banner raising for a second time as well.

The Hawks traded Versteeg and Joakim Nordstrom to the Carolina Hurricanes for defense prospects Dennis Robertson and Jake Massie as well as a third round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Versteeg, 29 was drafted in the Fifth Round (134th Overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins and he started the 2007-08 season with the Hawks after coming over from the Bruins in a trade for Brandon Bochensky.

After the team’s first cup, he was part of a five player swap between the Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs. The most notable player coming the other way was Viktor Stalberg. He was later traded to Philadelphia and then Florida before coming back to the Hawks along with Philippe Lefebvre early in the 2013-14 season in a deal for Jimmy Hayes and Dylan Olson.

Versteeg has amassed 275 points (116g, 159a) in 473 games played over eight NHL seasons.

Nordstrom, 23 was drafted by the Hawks in the Third Round (90th Overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and stayed in his home country of Sweden until the end of the 2012-13 season when he played 11 games with Rockford.

The following past two seasons saw him split time between Rockford and Chicago and he played in three playoff games with the Hawks in their drive to the Stanley Cup this past spring.

The Hawks still needed to do a little housekeeping to get under the cap and it would seem this was the final move as the team also announced the signing of Marcus Kruger right around the same time as the trade.

Kruger was also drafted by the Hawks in the Fifth Round (149th Overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.  He played seven games with the Hawks in teh 2010-11 season and has been mostly in Chicago since then, playing just 34 games in Rockford. The reliable center has played 81 in each of the past two seasons and last year he collected 17 points (7g, 10a) and 32 penalty minutes.

Clearly the most notable names in the trade are going to the Hurricanes, but the Hawks are getting a couple of promising defensive prospects so judging this trade may take several years.

Robertson, 24, was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Sixth Round (173rd Overall) in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and was traded while still attending Brown University to the Canes along with John-Michael Liles for defenseman Tim Gleason.

He was the captain at Brown in both his junior and senior season and played his first full pro season with Charlotte of the AHL this past year, collecting 17 points (3g, 14a) and 70 penalty minutes in 57 games.

Massie is an even younger prospect, drafted just this past June in the Sixth Round (156th Overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the Hurricanes.

The 18 year old defenseman played AAA midget last season and is currently a member of the Omaha Lancers. He expects to attend UMass (Amherst) next season.