"I think above all, this group is ready to become a contender and to compete with anybody on any given night," Krueger said. "I'm confident that we can become that kind of a team quite quickly. I like the way Jason has been putting this team together and the way he thinks.
"He understands the necessity of being strong with and without the puck and developing a team game that's dynamic and allows this core group of players to develop and show their skill but at the same time find the discipline as a group to defend properly.
"That will be high on our agendas to put that game plan in place quite quickly, to become a contender and competitor right into April. That's where we want to be hanging around and I'm confident we can get there."
The next steps will take place next week, when Botterill and Krueger reconvene at the IIHF World Championship in Slovakia. There, the new coach will meet face-to-face with Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart, both of whom are participating in the tournament.
From that point, Krueger will begin discussions with the rest of his players - including pending free agent Jeff Skinner - with a focus on listening to their opinions on where they see opportunities for improvement.
Thomas Vanek, who played under Krueger at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, said he was the best motivator he's ever dealt with during an appearance on The Instigators on Wednesday morning.
"It took us a few days to adjust to him and his philosophy or whatever," Vanek said. "But after being around him with the whole team setting for three or four days, we were like, 'Holy crap. This guy is unbelievable.'
"He spent time with each and every one. It's not just make-believe that he cares about you. After two days of being around him - not even two days, 10 minutes - you know he cares about you."
The goal, Krueger said, is creating a unified but demanding culture in which the work done off the ice will make for a connected product on it. The task begins right away.
"I'm at heart, of course, an optimistic coach and an optimistic person," he said. "But I don't believe I'm a dreamer. I believe I'm a realist, and I'm looking at what I see here. I know we're going to work hard through the summer to add some pieces and to make some adjustments on the roster.
"Only time will tell. I don't want to make any big premises here. Only one that I will make, and that is I will do everything in my power to find out what this group is made of very quickly and to get us into hat competitive state for much longer than the team was able to get into last season."