Boston Bruins can’t afford to not re-sign Torey Krug
The Boston Bruins won’t have an easy time re-signing defenseman ToreyKrug, but they must find a way to do it.
The Boston Bruins are perennial Stanley Cup contenders. However, that could change very quickly if they don’t re-sign defenseman Torey Krug. The Bruins are getting older, which means their Stanley Cup window, if it hasn’t already begun to close, will likely do so shortly.
This offseason, Krug will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. He’s earned himself a nice paycheck. Krug will deserve every penny he gets because he’s worked his way all the way up from being an undrafted free agent out of college to being one of the NHL’s premier offensive defensemen.
It will be quite difficult for the Bruins to keep Krug, especially if he sees the contract John Carlson signed two years ago and wants something similar. However, if the Bruins want to remain Stanley Cup contenders, they need to find a way to keep him.
Why The Boston Bruins Need Krug
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Krug has averaged at least 15 minutes at 5v5 in each season since the 2014-15 season. That puts him in second pairing territory. However, this doesn’t begin to show how valuable Krug is, and will be, to the Bruins.
Firstly, let’s consider the future of team captain Zdeno Chara. Chara has aged like a fine wine, as he’s still quite capable of playing shutdown minutes on the top pairing with young defenseman Charlie McAvoy. However, his minutes have been steadily dropping in recent years. Chara is at the point in his career when he’s just taking it one year at a time, as he has signed one-year deals in each of the past two offseasons.
When Chara retires (and he will one day), the Bruins will need help filling in his giant skates (pun intended). Obviously, Charlie McAvoy’s going to play a huge part in that. He’s already averaging more minutes per game than Chara. But after him, the Bruins will need help. Krug could easily provide that.
Krug’s calling card has always been his ability to move the puck in transition. But he’s also an excellent defensemen on the power play. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, only John Carlson (91) has more power play points than Krug. Keep in mind Carlson’s job is basically passing pucks to Alex Ovechkin and occasionally surprising teams by shooting. It’s also worth noting Carlson has played in 30 more games than Krug.
If you look at power play points per hour, no defensemen (minimum 400 PP minutes) has more during that span than Krug (6.71). Krug’s also the leader in primary assists per hour (3.29).
Naturally, the Bruins would love to keep Krug. But it might not be possible. Still, general manager Don Sweeney appeared optimistic in a recent interview.
“I dearly hope that Torey hasn’t played his last game – this year or going forward,” Sweeney said, via NHL.com. “He’s been a big part of any success we’ve had as an organization.”
Luckily for the Bruins, the feeling’s mutual. Here’s what Krug had to say:
"“For me personally, I really hope I did not play my last game as a Boston Bruin. It’s been a special place for me and my family to grow and my love for the game and playing in front of these fans, it’s been very special to me.”"
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Keeping Krug is admittedly risky for the Boston Bruins. He turns 29 years old on Easter Sunday. History has not been too kind to defensemen once they hit the age of 30. The Bruins don’t have much cap space either, though they could use a compliance buyout on John Moore if the NHL brings them back. On the other hand, the only thing the Bruins might not be able to afford is losing Torey Krug.