Torey Krug has likely played his last game for the Boston Bruins.
After losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Boston Bruins lost a great opportunity to improve their legacy. They’ve had a great run over the past decade. No team has won more playoffs games than them over the past 10 seasons. Only the Pittsburgh Penguins have won more total games, both regular season and postseason.
It sounds like those days could be coming to an end, though. After being eliminated by the Lightning, the Bruins had their exit interviews with media on Thursday, Sept. 3. Torey Krug had quite a bit to say.
Usually, free agents are pretty coy about their future with a franchise. But Krug was pretty blunt.
Torey Krug said contract talks with the Bruins was “few and far between” during the season and that he was opposed to taking a one year deal: “This is my time in terms of my value at its peak. I need to make the most of it”
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) September 3, 2020
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That sure doesn’t sound like someone who is willing to take a discount to stay with the Bruins. Players like Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, and Brad Marchand have been willing to do it in the past. But clearly Krug is not.
And let’s be fair to Krug. He’s earned a huge pay day. Krug is one of the most successful undrafted NHL players of the salary cap era.
In 2012, the Bruins signed him out of college and gave him a chance to prove himself. Krug certainly did that, earning himself a four-year deal worth $5.25 million annually back in 2016.
He’s worked his tail off to prove he’s an NHL defenseman despite being undersized. Krug’s earned a huge payday, but it doesn’t seem like the Bruins will be the team who gives it to him. He’s 29 years old and still has plenty of good years ahead of him.
It’s not hard to see why Krug wants to test the open market. Unless the St. Louis Blues don’t re-sign team captain Alex Pietrangelo, and trading Jake Allen suggests they’re at least trying to re-sign him, Krug will be the best defenseman on the open market. He’s always played second fiddle behind Zdeno Chara in Boston, but his numbers suggest he could handle top pairing minutes.
Replacing Krug will be easier said than done for the Bruins. While they have $15 million of cap space, a healthy portion of that is going to be devoted to re-signing RFA forward Jake DeBrusk and RFA defenseman Matt Grzelcyk. The free agent market doesn’t provide too many options outside of Pietrangelo, Krug, and Brendan Dillon, who is open to re-signing with the Washington Capitals.
Krug brought elements of playmaking and transition play to the table that the Bruins needed. Without him, they lack those elements, aside from Charlie McAvoy. The Bruins are still going to be a good team without Krug. They might even still manage to be a great team. But the Bruins are unquestionably worse without Krug. They’re going to have to address his departure.
Combined with the uncertain future of captain Zdeno Chara, who is at the annual one-year deal portion of his career, you can understand why the Bruins felt they ruined a chance to win another Stanley Cup this year. And why they felt that way after last season, when they lost to the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Final. Those chances can’t be taken lightly.
The Bruins’ Stanley Cup window isn’t closed yet, but it’s started to shut. Krug’s departure will make it even harder for them to keep it open.