Reports: Marcus Kruger Willing To Re-Sign With Blackhawks On Short-Term Deal

(CBS) Restricted free agent forward Marcus Kruger is still playing the waiting game with the Blackhawks.

Kruger remains unsigned nearly a month into free agency, and it's because he's waiting to see how much salary cap space Chicago can clear. He wants a long-term deal but is willing to sign a short-term deal if necessary, the Tribune's Chris Kuc and ESPN's Scott Powers each reported Monday.

Kruger and his representatives have remained in negotiations with the Blackhawks over the past month, ESPN reported.

Even after trading away Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad, Chicago remains in a salary cap crunch. Without having signed Kruger yet, the Blackhawks have just more than $71 million committed in payroll for 2015-'16, according to hockeybuzz.com, and must be under the hard salary cap of $71.4 million by opening night.

The 25-year-old Kruger had seven goals and 10 assists in 81 regular-season games last year and was a regular on the team's penalty kill. He also played solid hockey during Chicago's championship run.

Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman has publicly expressed a desire to bring Kruger back.