Mark Lazerus wrote about Kris Versteeg's signing yesterday.
Quote:
Kris Versteeg frankly didn’t know how much he had left when Vaxjo HC of the Swedish Elite League bought out his KHL contract and lured him back across the ocean for another go at pro hockey. Five surgeries in six seasons and a balky hip had all but ruined the prime of his career. A miserable experience in Russia had soured him on international hockey. And the NHL felt further away than it ever had.
Then something unexpected happened. Versteeg went to Sweden this spring and started burning guys. Catching guys on the backcheck, too. His speed was back. His explosiveness was back. And he posted four goals and seven assists in 12 regular-season games, then four goals and two assists in seven playoff games. For the first time in years, he felt like two-time Stanley Cup champion Kris Versteeg again.
“It’s the hardest league to score in outside of the NHL, and I had a point a game,” Versteeg said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I can still play.’ I was able to beat guys one-on-one again, without feeling like there’s an ice pick stabbing into my side. I wasn’t in great shape, the shape I’d like to be in, because I hadn’t done anything for four months. But I was beating guys with my athleticism, which I hadn’t been able to do for a few years.”
Versteeg had reached out to Mark Bernard, who oversees the Blackhawks’ minor-league affiliates, and told him to call if he ever need a little help in Rockford. After the stint in Sweden, the interest was definitely mutual. That’s how Versteeg ended up signing an AHL contract with the IceHogs on Monday.
Versteeg’s not kidding himself. He knows he’s being brought in to serve as a mentor and an inspiration to all the prospects coming through the Blackhawks’ system. But AHL contracts can easily become NHL contracts. He knows that, too.
“I don’t think I have any doubt in my mind that I can play at the NHL level,” Versteeg said. “That’s not really what I signed up for at this point, though. I signed up to be a mentor for the young guys. I’m looking forward to that. I expect to play really well, and there’s a lot I can show them, and a lot I can learn from the young guys, too. I still want to play because I still think I can play at the NHL level. But I signed this contract first and foremost because of my loyalty to the organization.”
Versteeg had similar offers — AHL contracts, professional tryouts, two-way deals — last offseason. But he took a chance on the KHL, and it backfired almost immediately. When he arrived in Omsk, the team had been practicing for two months. Versteeg then picked up a nasty stomach virus, and the illness combined with the stress of being away from his family — he has two sons, with a little girl due in August — made him miserable.
He then noticed a rash on his back.
“It was burning,” he said. “Felt like someone was poking me with a hot iron.”
Versteeg called his doctor back in Toronto and sent him a picture. The doctor knew right away it was shingles — a terrible, excruciating illness. The team doctors in Russia concurred, and though Versteeg tried to play through it for a couple of weeks, “It was hell.” He flew home to treat it, then returned to Russia for a few games, but his heart wasn’t in it. He wanted to go home to his family and find a hockey gig back in North America, but Omsk wouldn’t let him out of his contract for four months, until Vaxjo bought it out.
That’s when everything changed. His family flew out to Sweden for four of the eight weeks he was there, and his hip — which cut his 2017-18 season with the Calgary Flames short — felt better than it had in years. Even though he wasn’t in hockey shape and hadn’t skated much during his downtime, he instantly became a key player in Sweden. He was having fun again, too.
“But I wanted to be back home, especially with the newborn coming,” he said.
That’s when he reached out again to Bernard, who has known Versteeg ever since the Blackhawks acquired him from Boston during the 2006-07 season and sent him to Norfolk of the AHL, where Bernard was stationed. Versteeg told Bernard he wanted to come back home to the Blackhawks organization and to help out the kids who are now in the situation he was in back then. It’s a role Cody Franson, Lance Bouma, Jeff Glass and Peter Holland have played to perfection in Rockford in recent years. They teach prospects how to handle themselves as professionals, how to prepare properly, how to train properly, how to eat properly — how to be grown-ups, basically. A curious role for those who only remember the goofy, rapping Versteeg of yesteryear, but one that he feels fits him well now.
“We’re excited about the experience and knowledge he’ll bring to our younger players in Rockford,” Bernard said. “And we think he’s going to be one of the best players in the league.”
Of course, if he is, that raises other possibilities. After all, he’s only 32. A young 32 at that, given how many games he’s missed over the years.
“Every player wants to play in the NHL, and I have no doubt Kris is exactly the same,” Bernard said. “He’ll come to the main training camp, and we’ll see what happens. Anything can happen throughout the year.”
For now, Versteeg is just happy to be home — near his actual family and with his hockey family. He’s stayed in touch with Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford over the years, and he’s looking forward to sharing the ice with them again, even if it’s just for training camp.
“That’s what drives me, to get back to the NHL,” Versteeg said. “I signed this contract because I want to be able to play and I want to be able to help an organization that has done so much for me. But I’ve missed over 150 games because of injuries. Now, I feel really good. And I’ve always had the confidence in myself that I can play at the highest level. That’s not where I’m at right now, though. I’m going to go help Rockford and these young guys, then let the cards fall where they do. And if an opportunity opens up, that’s great. But it’s not my focus.”
Not yet, at least.
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