- Marcus Kruger signed a one-year extension with Djurgardens IF for the 2026-27 SHL season
- The two-time Stanley Cup winner had groin surgery in the spring and rehabbed on his own all summer
- Read below for what Djurgarden’s sporting director and head coach said about his return
Marcus Kruger is not finished playing.
The 36-year-old center agreed to a new one-year contract with Djurgardens IF on Friday, keeping him in the SHL for the 2026-27 season. His last deal, the four-year contract he signed when he came home in 2022, expired in the spring, per the club’s announcement.
Getting here took him a full summer. Kruger had surgery on a lingering groin problem once the contract ran out, then handled his rehab on his own for months.
It went well enough that he wanted to give himself another year. Djurgarden left the door open, and he has been skating under the club’s supervision for the past few weeks.
Sporting director Marcus Due-Boje explained why the club moved when it did, in comments translated from Swedish.
“Marcus Kruger feels good enough to join the group and get a contract from Djurgarden, which is really great,” Due-Boje said.
Due-Boje also talked about what the veteran gives a dressing room that is still adjusting to life back in the SHL.
“We are very happy that Marcus feels ready to play after this summer. It is important that he continues on our journey,” Due-Boje said. “He is a player who loves to compete and can keep contributing to our culture.”
Head coach Robert Kimby was asked where Kruger slots into the lineup and would not commit to anything yet.
“It is obviously good for us. We know what he can do and what he has done and what he means to us,” Kimby said. “We have to let it take the time it takes to get properly going, and then we will see when he can play.”
Kimby did lay out the uses. Kruger is good in front of the net on the power play, he kills penalties, and he can skate with any type of linemate.
North American fans know him from nine NHL seasons: 520 games, 38 goals, 123 points, eight years in Chicago and one in Carolina. He won the Cup with the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015, played 87 playoff games, and picked up Selke votes twice as a shutdown center. Chicago drafted him in the fifth round, 149th overall, in 2009.
Kruger came home in April 2022 on a 2+2 deal, signing alongside Daniel Brodin with the club stuck outside the SHL:
That was the entire point of the contract, and it paid off in April 2025 when Djurgarden won promotion back to the top flight:
Stockholm keeps pulling NHL names back. Nils Aman left the Canucks for a three-year Djurgarden deal in July, and the roster around Kruger is deeper than the one he joined four years ago.
Djurgarden will not sort out Kruger’s role until he is medically cleared to play.
