With Torey Krug yet to renew his expiring contract with the Boston Bruins, some crazy scenarios get pondered. Among them, the notion of a Michigan homecoming.
Torey Krug was born in Michigan and attended college at Michigan State, growing up admiring the play of Red Wings’ legend Pavel Datsuyk. It’s not completely far-fetched to imagine him departing the Boston Bruins if the right offer arrived.
With Steve Yzerman stepping into the General Manager role in Detroit and seeing a top-calibre power play quarterback with local roots potentially being available in the summer, you’d have to imagine he’s at least going to see whether there’s interest.
Of course, Torey Krug has openly stated that he wants to remain with the Boston Bruins, but for that to happen, any salary expectation has to be reasonable and the player has to be willing not to be paid an inflated free agency rate. Call it a hometown discount or whatever you like. We also know the contract negotiations won’t be taking place yet.
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Factor in that the Boston Bruins are all but confirmed to be a play-off team again this summer and the Red Wings look a long way off and perhaps there’s never going to be any sort of deal.
Torey Krug is the longest-serving member of the Boston Bruins not to win a Stanley Cup yet; why would he leave a very clear opportunity to do so, at least for the next couple more years whilst David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron can still perform, behind?
On the flip though, the Red Wings have slowly been building quite decent prospect depth; the likes of Moritz Seider last draft, Filip Zadina, Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin all suggest there’s a bright future ahead.
If Torey Krug were to sign with his home state NHL team, he’d no doubt be thrust into a key role. He is quarter-back on the Boston Bruins powerplay and you’d expect the same role with Detroit to be a big selling point. That and he could likely add extra minutes, with their defensive depth somewhat lacking.
Yzerman would likely be keen to push that Krug would play a veteran role on a team that is growing and with bad contracts finally ageing out, one that looks like it may move back towards contending for the playoffs in a few years time.
Obviously NHL careers don’t last forever, but it’d be a hard sell on the idea of leading a young squad to possible glory in his home state.
I can’t really see it happening; you’d be foolish to throw in the towel with a Boston Bruins team that saw Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season, especially for a team that right now has a points percentage that is absolutely abysmal.
The Boston Bruins simply need to ensure that they’re willing to pay Torey Krug what he wants and, here’s the harder part, give him the term he wants. Equally, they don’t want to trap themselves with a bad contract in its’ latter years.
If you’re Detroit and you see he hasn’t signed, you of course reach out to him once free agency is underway. However, if I’m Torey Krug, I’m not considering a big-money offer at this point if staying with the Boston Bruins is my way to get my hands on the Stanley Cup.