The Chicago Blackhawks signed forward Marcus Kruger to a three-year contract extension, the team announced Tuesday.

The 25-year-old was set to become a restricted free agent this summer. The deal will pay Kruger $9.25 million, an average of just over $3 million per season, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

Kruger is having a forgettable season as he has battled injuries, limiting him to just 33 games and just one assist. He was placed on injured reserve Dec. 28 and has not suited up in a game since Dec. 17.

The Swedish Olympian amassed 28 goals and 85 assists in 320 career games, all with the Blackhawks.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Carolina Hurricanes continue to galvanize their prospect pool.

The club agreed to a two-year entry-level contract with forward Andrew Poturalski, the team announced Tuesday.

Poturalski is enjoying an excellent sophomore season at the University of New Hampshire, where he ranks second in NCAA scoring with 22 goals and 52 points in 37 games.

"Andrew had an outstanding season with New Hampshire and attracted interest from numerous NHL teams, so we are thrilled that he chose Carolina to start his professional career," general manager Ron Francis said in a release. "He’s a smart hockey player with really good speed and skill."

The deal will pay the 22-year-old $700,000 at the NHL level or $70,000 in the American Hockey League next season and $832,500 in the NHL or $70,000 in the minors during the 2017-18 season, along with a $185,000 signing bonus.

Poturalski will report to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, where he'll finish the season on an amateur tryout.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Jared Cowen is looking ahead, not back.

Physically able to play but effectively shut down by the Toronto Maple Leafs after being acquired as part of the Dion Phaneuf trade, the defenseman will not file a grievance against the club, choosing rather to take steps towards rehabilitating both his ailing hip and his professional hockey career.

"We’re going to take the time to get Jared right," Cowen's agent, Rick Valette, told Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. "He’s not injured, but he’s not right. Any doctor would clear him to play. But there are compensation issues when your hip isn’t 100 percent, other parts of your body are affected.

"Rather than having him sit as a healthy scratch with the Leafs or the Marlies, we’re going to have him go see some people and get healthy."

The Maple Leafs plan to buy out the remaining year of a contract that carries a $2.15-million cap hit, and have allowed him to speak to other teams about his next contract, but Cowen's taking a step back, with a view to taking several steps forward.

"He’s 25 years old," Vallette said. "We’ve got six months to get him back to being a good player. That’s our game plan for now."

Cowen, drafted ninth overall by Ottawa in 2009, appeared in only 37 games for the Senators this season prior to the trade, recording four assists in almost 17 minutes of ice time a night.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

More than 25 years ago, before shattering any scoring records or winning any Stanley Cups, Wayne Gretzky was a bit self-conscious about his image.

After a set of hockey cards were shown to Edmonton Oilers players prior to the 1981-82 season, Gretzky requested that his photo - featuring the legend with a messy mullet and an awkward smile - be retaken.

Long-lost hockey cards feature Wayne Gretzky's mullet https://t.co/iCLTEzFq0q pic.twitter.com/bToV49hdR7

— CBC Trending (@CBCTrending) March 8, 2016

The producer of the cards, Don Clarke of Edmonton, granted Gretzky's request and ordered that all of the cards be destroyed, but not before keeping a few for himself.

"I, for one, grabbed a couple," Clarke admitted to CBC. "Why? I don't know, just wanted a keepsake or whatever have you.

"How many actually got destroyed? I never thought about it at the time," he continued. "Some of them got out, but the majority, by far the majority of them, were destroyed."

Gretzky's photo was retaken after he got a haircut, but, thankfully, Clarke kept evidence of the original for us to enjoy.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHL announced Monday that it's still mulling over expansion bids from Las Vegas and Quebec City, adding that no decisions or recommendations have been made. And according to Brian Mulroney - chairman of Quebecor, which is behind Quebec City's bid - a decision isn't coming any time soon.

There's been a chain reaction of talk regarding expansion, after former NHLer Georges Laraque went on the radio Monday and said Quebec City's application had been denied. The NHL then put out its statement, and Mulroney, the former prime minister of Canada, went on the radio Monday, as well, and said the low Canadian dollar is playing a factor in the league's prolonged decision. He added that expansion to Quebec City will not happen "tomorrow morning," according to the National Post's Mike Zeisberger.

"Obviously, you know that with the Canadian dollar where it is, it is an extraordinary challenge not only for Quebec, but for all of Canada vis-a-vis the United States. So we must deal with this reality.

"We work well with the NHL and the case, quietly, (might) not advance quickly, but (will) advance as it should. Will it be tomorrow morning? No, I think not. But I think we are high up on the list of important applications to remember in the future."

The Canadian dollar is valued at $0.74 to the American dollar Tuesday afternoon, rebounding from a yearly low of $0.68 in January, according to XE Currency Charts. The dollar has gone up as oil has rebounded from its low of $27.10 per barrel in January.

Either way, the NHL appears to be in a holding pattern on expansion, and both Las Vegas and Quebec City remain in limbo.

- With h/t to Pro Hockey Talk

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

When you spend an entire hockey season sitting beside the same player in the dressing room, you can learn a lot about their habits - and their weaknesses.

St. Louis Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson, a seven-year NHL veteran, quickly figured out how to get the best out of his seating arrangement beside 22-year-old Joel Edmundson, paying the fellow blue-liner to take his skates off after practice.

Gunnarsson paid Edmundson to take his skates off today. pic.twitter.com/R6iwm3xp6Z

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) March 8, 2016

This isn't a case of a veteran player picking on a rookie, as Edmundson seemed more than happy to help his teammate out.

"He just gave me an offer I couldn't resist," Edmundson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "It pays for lunch. You've got to do what you've got to do to make a buck."

Gunnarsson joked that his sore back was making it hard for him to reach down to his skates, but admitted he was bound to find out Edmundson's weak spot during a long season.

"You figure it out," he said. "I've been sitting here for 70 games. You learn."

Edmundson is currently the lowest-paid defenseman on the Blues' roster, making a measly $742,500 this season.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Not even an established NHL star can pass up a piece of hockey lore.

Colorado Avalanche forward Matt Duchene appears to have secured signed sticks from Jaromir Jagr and Pavel Datsyuk after recent games against the Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings.

Thanks @Datsyuk13 and @68Jagr !🏒🏒 pic.twitter.com/FWaNaNJqmu

— Matt Duchene (@Matt9Duchene) March 8, 2016

With 28 goals in 68 games, the 25-year-old has already surpassed his previous career high, and will no doubt be signing sticks for the next wave of talent at the tail end of his own career.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Jonathan Drouin is being welcomed back to the AHL's Syracuse Crunch, and will have to work hard to repair damage done upon walking away from the team back in January, both on and off the ice.

So says Crunch captain Mike Angelidis, who's appeared in only 14 NHL games with the Tampa Bay Lightning while largely plying his trade in the minors for the past decade.

"I think he's going to have to earn his respect from guys as well," Angelidis said Tuesday after practice, according to Lindsay Kramer of Syracuse.com. "It's not something (where) you just come back in. I think he's going to come in and work hard and that's how everything's going to be fine. He's going to have to come in and play, and he's going to play hard. He can't just come through and go through the motions."

For the time being, and despite recent circumstances, Angelidis is willing to give the 20-year-old the benefit of the doubt.

"I don't think he's got that kind of character. I think he's got a good head on his shoulders where he'll come in and work hard. If he comes in and doesn't work hard, then, obviously, there's entitlement there. But I don't think it's going to go that way. I think he realized the guys in the dressing room won't allow that to happen."

Drouin was last off the ice at Crunch practice and picked up some pucks on his way to the locker room, which, in the captain's eyes, was a good start on the road back to the NHL.

If anyone knows it doesn't come easy, it's Angelidis.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

TORONTO - Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Matt Hunwick will not play another game this season. Hunwick will have season-ending sports hernia surgery, playing his final game this year on Monday night. Toronto head coach Mike Babcock announced t...