Torey Krug Signs with St. Louis Blues

Torey Krug is the prime example of the undrafted NCAA player who makes it to the NHL and shows that he was meant to be there. The diminutive defenseman proved that it wasn’t size that mattered but determination and pluckiness when it came to dealing with bigger players.

Though he spent the 2012-13 season with the Providence Bruins, he was on everyone’s radar after the Boston Bruins took on the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in which Torey scored his first playoff goal in his first playoff game – scoring that goal against the “King” Henrik Lundqvist. After eliminating the Rangers in five games, Krug had contributed four goals and an assist. From there he was a staple on the Boston Bruins back end for the next seven seasons showing his strong offensive talent in many ways, including as quarterback of the first power play unit.

As the 2019-20 season was forced to pause in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were many questions as to where things stood with Krug and the Bruins in regard to reaching an agreement to an extension that would keep him in a black and gold sweater. The lack of information was concerning, and it began to look like Krug might not return to Boston when the 2020-21 season got underway.

Those concerns were confirmed on Saturday, October 10, 2020, when announcements were made on Twitter and other social media outlets. The St. Louis Blues and some of its players were welcoming their new teammate—previous foe—to the team. Perhaps the best being the comment from new teammate Robert Thomas.

Meanwhile the Boston Bruins were saying goodbye and thank you through a video montage of his work while with the Bruins.

However, the actual agreement was reached in the late hours of day one of free agency, Friday, October 9, 2020.

“We only actually called three people today, that we felt could make an impression on our team and Torey was one, so it started right at about 11:15 [12:15 ET]. The calls went out. Then I went and had a conversation with him just to introduce myself, talk about the organization, asked him and his agent if we were in serious consideration and I’d like him to talk to the coach. That call [to the coach] then happened and then it just started to pick up steam after that. He felt that we were a good fit for him and then we went to work on the contract,” shared Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong.

“A match made in heaven.” — Torey Krug

On Krug’s side, he was apparently not actively seeking out the St. Louis Blues. He referred to the contact from the Blues and the results “kind of not expected.” However, the more communication he had with them, the better the opportunity looked to him, calling it a “perfect fit” and “a match made in heaven.”

“Yes, I was surprised, for sure. We talked all along that in this process, during it, that there would be a team that comes out of left field that surprises you and you might have to take a longer look at, so that’s what happened. I had a good talk with Doug [Armstrong], a good talk with coach and we just looked at the roster and we really sat down analyzed what we wanted –the opportunity to win year in, year out was something we just couldn’t pass up,” Krug said.

And where were the Boston Bruins during all of this? How close was Krug to staying with the Bruins? His short answer was not close.

“There was just no communication. Nothing happened. So, once the opportunity presented itself to be a Blue, I had to take the chance and jump on it,” Krug expounded.

The Blues have locked up Krug with a hefty seven-year, $45.5 million contract which apparently was longer in term than that offered by the Boston Bruins. Meanwhile Krug’s contract currently puts the Blues over the $81.5 million cap with restricted free agent Vince Dunn yet to be signed. The team is allowed to be 10% above the cap during the offseason, but they will have to do something in a short amount of time with the new season slated to begin January 1, 2021.