Chicago Blackhawks: 3 most underrated players from the dynasty

A lot of people think of the big goals the Hawks scored during their dynasty. Well, the main reason they were so good was that they were so sound in their own zone. You read about how Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson, and Oduya helped that big time but the forwards did an amazing job helping out. Patrick Kane isn’t the biggest defense guy but players like Jonathan Toews,  Marian Hosse, and Patrick Sharp really bought into it.

Well, one player, who doesn’t get the respect he deserves in Marcus Kruger. He had some offense to his game as he had 37 goals and 80 assists for 117 points in 472 games for Chicago but he was the perfect fourth-line center for other reasons. His career CorsiFor was 51.6. He was the perfect fit for a team loaded with talent ahead of him in the forward lineup.

Kruger left the Hawks in a trade to the Vegas Golden Knights but would never play a game with them. They traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes where he would play one season. Carolina then traded him to the Arizona Coyotes but once again, he would never play a game for them. The  Coyotes traded him back to Chicago where he would play one final year in the NHL.

The Hawks were so lucky to have so much depth and Kruger led that depth at the forward position. He was a great fourth-line center and got to be a part of two Stanley Cup teams. All three of these underrated players excelled in the defensive ends of the ice which is important to a championship squad. This team once had so much depth, now they need to keep working to get it back to that level.