Boston Bruins: Torey Krug surely is next in line for a new deal

The Boston Bruins have a clear runway to start the 2019-20 NHL season. All the free agents are re-signed; their next big challenge – sign Torey Krug to a new deal.

The Boston Bruins can at least focus on the start of the new season. However, you’d have to imagine that Don Sweeney is already working out just how much cap space is available and what sort of deal might appeal to next summer’s unrestricted free agent defenseman, Torey Krug.

In the past week or so, the Bruins have re-upped defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo. They managed to fit them into their limited $8 million salary cap space. Now, the Boston Bruins will try to shift their focus and re-sign Torey Krug.

Torey Krug is a big part of the Boston Bruins defense. He is also the best-paid defenseman on the Bruins’ roster, presently. In the past three seasons, Krug has collected 163 points, which ranked as the fifth-best among all NHL defensemen. That’s a very solid number, to say the least.

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However, his $5.25 million salary-cap hit won’t last forever. Next summer, Krug will become an unrestricted free agent. Or will he? The Boston Bruins will attempt to get Torey Krug re-signed sooner rather than later.

Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney himself admits that the Bruins will start the contract talks with Krug soon. “Torey is an important part of our hockey club. We have some forecasting to do. We have some conversations that have to take place and they will,” said Sweeney.

The Bruins know what to expect from Torey Krug. His 16-point performance from the past Stanley Cup playoffs or his 50-point regular season campaigns are the best evidence of his capabilities. Besides, Krug offers the Bruins some physicality and the leadership as well.

Next year, the Bruins will have approximately $26 million in the salary cap space. It’s believed that Krug might demand at least $8 million per season on a long-term deal. If Boston makes his re-signing as their top priority, they can get a new contract done sooner rather than later.

Last week, Jared Spurgeon from the Minnesota Wild, got a seven-year contract extension worth approximately $7.5 million per campaign. He would become an unrestricted free agent next summer, similar to Krug. Krug is even a better player, mainly in terms of his offensive production.

There is a comparable in terms of a contract, but, more importantly, there is a similar top-four defenseman, who signed a new deal with still one season left on his expiring contract. Don’t be surprised if the Boston Bruins re-sign Krug sooner than June next year.