Bruins’ Krug not focused on free agency
Defenseman eyes run for the Cup
Torey Krug appeared to be having as much fun as anyone in the Bruins’ first practice of training camp on Monday.
At one point, the defenseman stepped in for a faceoff against center Charlie Coyle during a 3-on-3 drill and gave out a celebratory screech after pulling back the puck for the win.
But while Krug has been very good at compartmentalizing in this, his walk season before free agency, even he acknowledged on a post-practice Zoom call with reporters that his Black and Gold days could be numbered after the new CBA extension called for a flat salary cap of $81.5 million for 2020-21 and possibly beyond.
“I was on every single one of those phone calls and going through different scenarios, it was a good deal for us to get something to protect us in the short-term in order to have long-term success as a league. I thought it was a good deal and I’m happy both sides ratified it so we can move on here,” said Krug after the Warrior Ice Arena session.
“As far as myself, I don’t really know what’s going to happen. I’m just trying to take it day by day and just worry about the playoffs right now. I’ll have to probably prepare for free agency and we’ll have to see what happens. But in terms of what’s going on with the Bruins and everything, that’s probably a question for someone else.”
Krug has said many times that he wants to remain a Bruin and how much he loves Boston, but if he has to look elsewhere, there is a lot to consider.
“Any time you’re winning and you’re doing your job well, that kind of makes everything else line up in life,” said Krug. “For
me, family’s the No. 1 thing. My priorities have changed quite a bit being a husband and a father. It’s quite a change in where your priorities lie. You have to think about schools, you have to think about quality of life, living in certain climates, things like that.
“These are all something that you take into consideration and we’ll see. But I think at the end of the day, competing and being a part of core and leadership group has all been important to me. You try to build something and be a part of something special. You always want to do that. There’s a lot of things that go into it and well see. But right now I’m just focused on this group right here and now and hopefully winning a championship. Then I’ll have to prepare for whatever’s to come after that.”
While Krug has not openly discussed numbers in public, it is generally believed that a player of his point production could rightly look for a long-term deal in the range of $7 million to $9 million. Krug has said he’d be willing to give the Bruins a bit of a hometown discount within reason, but he doesn’t believe the new CBA is any cause for him to re-think his worth.
“My situation remains the same and what I’m looking for, that remains the same as well,” said Krug.
GM Don Sweeney said on Sunday that he’d be willing to negotiate right through training camp and the playoffs if necessary. But Krug wants to focus on hockey when the hockey actually starts, which for the B’s is Aug. 2 with a round-robin game against the Flyers.
“Once the puck drops and we start playing games, I’m going to just focus on that,” said Krug. “Anything up to that point, we’ll see if anything can work out, but once we drop the puck I’m going to focus on that and then we’ll have to re-evaluate things afterwards. But I’ve always been comfortable with it and nothing changes the way I approach each individual game and each individual shift. I’ve never done anything out of the ordinary to worry about that. I just let my play do the talking.”
If the league can get through Phase 3 without an extensive outbreak, the B’s will head to the hub city of Toronto on July 26. There is familial hardship and health risk involved for everyone in this endeavor, as well as some added financial peril for players in Krug’s situation.
“For me, it would be tough to go away for potentially upwards of two months. My daughter’s going to be almost 14, 15 months by then and she’s already changing so much by the day that I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like not seeing her for two months, let alone the health concerns and everything that goes along with (COVID-19) and everything we’re going through. So that’ll be tough, the family aspect for sure. It’s important to every single guy, specifically on our team, to have the families be involved and be included, just to take that into account however you can because family’s so important to the team and each player,” said Krug.
“Being a free agent going into this situation is definitely risky. I’d be lying to you if I said it’s not, having three or four months off and then going into the most intense hockey you could possibly play at any level. There’s always risk for injury no matter when you play but certainly in this moment you don’t have the normal training that you do, the preparation, all the work to make sure your body feels good and you can go in there without any worries. We’ll have a bit of ramp up here, so any time you have a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup, you take it every time you get it. Hopefully we can do that as a group, enjoy each other’s company in the bubble up there and hopefully come home with something we can hang our hat on.”