Report: Blackhawks closing in on deal with Kruger

The champs are close to locking up one of their role players.

Marcus Kruger is close to a new deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, reports Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times.

One of Kruger's biggest assets is his ability to kill penalties.

He helped the Blackhawks to a 83.4 penalty-kill percentage during the regular season last year, while also contributing seven goals and 10 assists in 81 games.

Signing Kruger has been on the to-do list of general manager Stan Bowman, along with trying to lock up restricted free agent Brandon Saad long term. Bowman is also seeking trade partners for Patrick Sharp, Bryan Bickell, and Kris Versteeg.