Blackhawks leave Marcus Kruger, Trevor van Riemsdyk unprotected

Marcus Kruger played a key role in two Stanley Cup runs for the Blackhawks, including this triple-overtime goal in Game 2 of the 2015 the Western Conference final. (Getty Images)

Two-time Stanley Cup champion Marcus Kruger is a step closer to becoming a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.

The NHL released the protected lists for all 30 non-expansion teams Sunday, and, as expected, Kruger wasn’t on the Hawks’ list. The Hawks, who are desperate for salary-cap relief, are expected to do whatever it takes to get the Golden Knights to take Kruger’s $3.08 million cap hit off their hands, even if it means losing defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, too. Van Riemsdyk also was left unprotected.

The Hawks protected forwards Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Artem Anisimov, Ryan Hartman, Richard Panik and Tomas Jurco, along with defensemen Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson and goalie Corey Crawford. Of those players, all but Hartman, Panik and Jurco have no-movement clauses in their contracts, meaning the Hawks were required to protect them. Players who have been pros for two years or fewer, including Artemi Panarin, were exempt from the expansion draft.

Each team had two options for its protected list — seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie or eight overall skaters and one goalie. Because the Hawks had three defensemen with no-movement clauses that had to be protected, if they had wanted to protect van Riemsdyk, they wouldn’t have been able to protect Hartman, Panik or Jurco. Among the other Hawks available to the Golden Knights are restricted free agent Dennis Rasmussen and veterans Jordin Tootoo and Michal Rozsival, neither of whom is likely to be selected.

A roster freeze went into effect Saturday, meaning teams only can negotiate trades with the Golden Knights until Thursday morning. The Golden Knights’ roster will be unveiled during the NHL Awards on Wednesday night. The Golden Knights will select one player from each team but can swing deals to acquire other players and assets.

As for Rasmussen, the Hawks’ only prominent restricted free agent other than Jurco, a source familiar with the negotiations said both sides want him to return to Chicago.

But the Hawks are putting everything on hold until the expansion draft plays out now that the 2017-18 salary-cap number of $75 million has been made official. The Hawks have until next week to tender a qualifying offer of $650,000 (the new league minimum) to Rasmussen, which would all but assure he returns.

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Email: mlazerus@suntimes.com