On Friday, the Blackhawks announced that forward Ben Smith was assigned to the Rockford IceHogs and that center Marcus Kruger was activated from injured reserve.
In other words, Kruger, who has been recovering from a concussion, has been cleared to play and is expected to be in the lineup Saturday against the Red Wings in Detroit.
Marcus Kruger doesn't have a personal timeline or a date in mind he's targeting for his return. Right now, he said he's taking everything "day by day" as he recovers from his concussion.
The Blackhawks' precarious injury situation meant change on Wednesday.
The team added rookies defenseman Dylan Olsen and winger Andrew Shaw to their roster, while placing defenseman Steve Montador and center Marcus Kruger on injured reserve.
The NHL suspended Daniel Carcillo indefinitely pending a hearing with the league for his hit on Oilers defenseman Tom Gilbert in Monday's loss at the United Center.
As far as Carcillo's own injury status, coach Joel Quenneville didn't know too much about Carcillo's left knee injury Tueday after practice, but he did relay some discouraging news about rookie center Marcus Kruger.
Goalie Corey Crawford will start consecutive games for the first time in three weeks when he faces the Columbus Blue Jackets at the United Center.
After a disciplinary hearing Thursday morning, the NHL decided to suspend Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland three games for hitting Blackhawks center Marcus Kruger in the head with his left forearm on Tuesday.
Engelland was not penalized during the game for his hit, where he left his feet and made direct contact with Kruger's head at 8:55 in the first period.
The NHL, though, thought it was "a recklessly targeted shot to Kruger's head." The league took into consideration that Kruger suffered a concussion on the play and also that Engelland hasn't been suspended before in his three-year career.
Here is NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan's video explanation of the play and ruling:
PITTSBURGH -- In the first period of the Blackhawks' 3-2 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday, defenseman Deryk Engelland sent rookie center Marcus Kruger crashing hard into the boards with a suspension-worthy hit.
Engelland left his feet and hit Kruger in the head. Kruger took five more shifts after the hit and began the second period on the bench, but he never took the ice and later left.
Coach Joel Quenneville called it a "tough hit, a high hit in a tough area [where Kruger] was in a tough spot." He said Kruger was OK after the game, but that he will be re-evaluated Wednesday in Chicago.
Here's a video of the hit:
Dave Bolland's foot injury -- while not considered serious by the Hawks -- is going to take a few more days to recover before he can play again.
It took only one game for the Blackhawks to start the Rockford shuffle. With the statuses of Dave Bolland and Ben Smith up in the air, the Hawks went to the farm again to fill out their roster.
The Blackhawks cut one of the more impressive players at training camp and one of the more disappointing on Monday after wrapping up preseason play.
Adam L. Jahns is a native Chicagoan hailing from the Far Northwest Side. Jahns has been with the Sun-Times since 2005, covering the Hawks since 2009. He's also helped cover the Bears, Cubs, Sox and high schools.
