The Boston Bruins’ offseason promises to be busy. It wouldn’t be surprising to see many mainstays explore options elsewhere as the Bruins aim to find help from external options via free agency or trade. One area that could see substantial change for the Bruins could be their blue line, which may see the departures of Derek Forbort, Matt Grzelcyk and Kevin Shattenkirk, based on usage down the stretch last season. Because of this, the Bruins could use extra depth on defense heading into next season. One player worth monitoring for help in this area is former Bruins and current St. Louis Blues blueliner Torey Krug.
This scenario only has legs because of Krug’s eligibility for a buyout from the Blues. With the veteran defender nixing a trade to the Philadelphia Flyers by invoking his no-trade clause, the Blues could not move on from Krug last offseason. This offseason, however, the team could part ways via a buyout, which would ultimately save them money for the next three seasons while incurring an additional cap hit for the subsequent three seasons. With Krug still on the books for three more seasons with a $6.5 million cap hit, the Blues could convert Krug’s cap hit to $333,333 this season, $2.33 million next season, $2.83 million the following season, and $2.33 million for the three years after that. On paper, this appears to be a net win for the Blues financially.
At 33 years old, Krug isn’t the same player he was when he left the Bruins in 2020. Throughout Krug’s tenure with the Bruins, he was consistently a 40-to-50-point producer, missing the mark only once. In his last four seasons with the Bruins, he recorded 51, 59, 53, and 49 points, respectively. Since joining the Blues, Krug surpassed the 40-point milestone just once, with a 43-point season in 2021-22. Last season, he’d record just 39 points in 77 games, a 0.5 points-per-game pace. Despite playing the most games in a season since 2016-17, it was his worst offensive production since 2014-15.
Krug’s Role on the Bruins Would Be Different
Krug has never played a full 82-game season. In fact, prior to his 77 games in 2023-24, he hadn’t played in more than 64 games in a season since the 2017-18 season. As a $6.5 million per season player, this is an issue. As a player who could be seen as depth for a Bruins’ team looking to revamp their roster, this is less concerning altogether. The Bruins’ top-six defenders heading into the 2024 offseason include Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Brandon Carlo, Mason Lohrei, Andrew Peeke and Parker Wotherspoon. If the team is looking to bolster their lineup and add a player who could come into the lineup in a rotational capacity or as a veteran insurance policy, they could do far worse than Krug, who would be playing in a much different role with the Bruins this time around.
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Krug has experience playing under Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery, who was an assistant coach with the Blues from 2020 to 2022. Krug also brings power play expertise, which could be invaluable given the Bruins’ power play struggles in the second half of the 2023-24 season, extending into the playoffs. Montgomery has shown a willingness to adjust his lineup to address issues, and Krug would provide additional options to spark the power play. The Bruins look more natural with a left-shot defender as the primary point player on their power play, and Lohrei could find himself as the lead man for the job as early as next season. If the Bruins want Lohrei to learn from somebody, Krug being on the roster would also be beneficial as he may be exactly the player for the job to give some extra pointers to their young defender.
One important thing to note about Krug is that the Blues have continued to use him in a sheltered role, which has been the norm for him throughout his career. The vast majority of Krug’s shifts have started in the offensive zone throughout his tenure in St. Louis, which is no different from his time in Boston; in St. Louis, he’s started 65.8% of his shifts in the offensive zone, while in Boston, he started 69%. These numbers drop to 59.6% and 62.6% when you account for just even-strength play, but the point remains that Krug is not a player typically trusted with defensive zone assignments. Because of this, as well as Krug’s advanced age and relatively down season, any prospective team could potentially sign Krug to a far-team-friendlier deal than the contract he’s currently playing under.
If the Blues were to buyout Krug, and if Krug were willing to join the Bruins as their seventh defender on a team-friendly contract, the match could be tailor-made. Still, there are multiple “ifs” involved in this scenario that would need to take place for any of this to be feasible. Monitoring situations like this around the league will be commonplace for the Bruins this offseason as they aim to make good, smart transactions, though, and this is as good a place as any to start.