Blues' defenseman Torey Krug will have season-ending surgery

The news about St. Louis Blues defenseman Torey Krug is not good. Krug will require surgery that will keep him off the ice during the 2024-25 season and may cost him his career.

The undrafted Krug signed with the Boston Bruins as a free agent on March 25, 2012, and quickly became a household name. He brought flair to the blue line but also was offensively gifted.

Towards the end of his time in Boston, he felt his time was running out and he had nothing left to prove. He would miss time during his tenure with the Bruins, which would lead to this predicament.

On October 9, 2020, he signed as a free agent with St. Louis and, once again, became a name that would give some punch to the Blues defense.

The St. Louis Blues are going to be without Torey Krug for a while

As with Boston, he would see his time decreased by injuries because of ankle pain. He would continue to play, but injuries cost him a full season. He has not played a full season since the 2016-17 season.

Last season, Krug was third in ice time (21:58) and led the defense in points (39). He was playing in pain and his play suffered and he was not the same player he was a few years ago. Still producing offensively, he would see his ice time again because of ankle problems.

After the season, Krug, and the Blues, announced he would undergo surgery on his pre-arthritic ankle and and be sidelined indefinitely. The pre-arthritic ankle is a cumulative result of bone fragments during his playing career. Krug is in the fourth year of a seven-year deal worth $45.5 million.

While this is tough news for Krug and the Blues, we all hope he makes a full recovery. The Blues have to rely on some new additions, and rookies, to step up in ice time and offensive production. Added during the off-season were veterans Ryan Suter and Philip Brogerg.

Those additions now have St. Louis with a full defense core of Suter, Broberg, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Nick Leddy, Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk, Matt Kessel, Scott Perunovich, and Tyler Tucker. They need big commitments from every defenseman on the roster and need important minutes to be played.

One player who could unfortunately benefit from Krug's absence is Perunovich. The 26-year-old produced a career-high 17 points last season (all assists) and could be a player to look at to take Krug's place on the power play unit.

He has 23 points in 73 games and plays a similar game to Krug. He has a good shot, reads the play well in all three zones, and is better defensively.

The loss of Krug leaves a massive hole on the blue line and it is undetermined how long he will be gone from action.

However, St. Louis has a full group of defensemen capable of playing together and filling that void as a group. The defense as a whole will be counted on and will be telling as to how far the Blues can go this season.