Thomas, the Blues' boom recruit, is moving closer to full training after the persistent ankle injury that wrecked his final season at Collingwood.
The premiership Pie played just five games in 2013 and last ran out in round seven against Fremantle.
The 26-year-old is expected to join the rest of the list in full training after the Australia Day long weekend later this month.
"Dale has been back running for a couple of months now and we're slowly increasing his training load," Carlton's general manager of football operations Andrew McKay told the club's website.
"He'll play in a few practice matches and we fully expect him to be right for round one."
Kreuzer was one of 17 Blues who had post-season surgery, with the big man needing an operation on the foot that kept him from their semi-final loss to the Sydney Swans.
He didn't go to Arizona for the club's altitude training camp but is also moving closer to ramping up his activity.
"At the moment Kreuzer's doing a lot of straight line running without any change of direction," McKay said.
"But we're starting to load him up and he'll be back to full training in a week or so."
Vice-captain Andrew Carrazzo is another looking to put an injury-affected 2013 behind him after calf problems interrupted his season.
The 30-year-old played 10 games last year before he was ruled out for the season after round 19 with the aim to get himself right for 2014.
The 2007 club best and fairest is on track for the season opener and was described as "flying" by McKay.
"Obviously Andrew has great leadership qualities on and off the field, so for him to be in full training at this time of year is great for the group," he said.
"We’re looking forward to having a big year with him."
Twitter: @AFL_JenPhelan
