Vegas Golden Knights should make a move for Torey Krug next summer
Front office executives will tell you that they never stop working when it comes to improving their respective team, and the same will apply to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Having already assembled an elite roster packed to the brim with talent, the Vegas Golden Knights are bang in the middle of their Stanley Cup window and this front office has shown that they will be aggressive to improve the team if they feel they need to.
So, on that note, the Golden Knights really should pay close attention to the Torey Krug situation in Boston with the Bruins because the defenseman would be an outstanding addition for Vegas.
He is an absolute horse on the blueline who can log monster minutes, he can play physical, he’s a cornerstone of the Bruins’ potent power play and, contrary to popular belief, he’s nowhere near as big a defensive liability as some make out.
Currently in the final year of his four-year $21,000,000 contract, which carries an average annual cap hit of $5,250,000, Krug is set to hit the open market next summer as an unrestricted free agent.
He isn’t the only one, either. There could be a loaded free agent class again next off-season with a glut of big hitters featuring the likes of Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Pietrangelo, Braden Holtby and Taylor Hall, although it is likely that a large majority of those players will remain where they are.
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But, going back to Krug, there is no doubt that he is one of the premier two-way defenseman currently plying his trade in the NHL and he would be a significant upgrade on the vast majority of defensive cores in the league.
And we are including the Vegas Golden Knights in that mix. Absolutely with 100 percent conviction.
It is no secret that the Golden Knights lack a big-hitter on their roster and there are plenty of question marks hovering over their blueline unit as a whole.
For starters, as important as Deryk Engelland has been to this franchise, he’s lost a clear step in his game and this could be his final year in the NHL, while Nick Holden is also likely to depart once his current contract expires next summer.
Brayden McNabb and Jon Merrill are both solid blueliners but it is perhaps fair to suggest that top six defensemen is probably their level, and then you have Nate Schmidt and Shea Theodore who are the Knights’ best defensemen with the latter well on his way to becoming a horse for this franchise.
You also have a plethora of young studs coming through the farm system and Nic Hague has shown glimpses in his first two NHL games that he has all the tools to eventually morph into a top four defenseman in the big leagues, while the likes of Dylan Coghlan and Kaedan Korczak are exciting prospects.
However, this blueline unit needs and maybe even craves a legitimate top line defenseman who can eat up big minutes, play a solid two-way game, man the power play and contribute 30-45 points a year.
Krug ticks all of those boxes and, with two trips to the Stanley Cup Final on his resume, the left shot would bring a wealth of experience to the Golden Knights and could be an ideal mentor for the likes of Hague or Korzak in the long-term.
He is also considered a glue guy in the Boston locker room so he would fit seamlessly into the Golden Knights culture, which is known for being extremely tight-knit and full of high-character guys.
Let’s now delve into the finer details of what exactly Torey Krug would bring to the ice for the Vegas Golden Knights…
Analyzing Krug’s all-round game
Torey Krug is an absolute horse on the blueline for the Boston Bruins. We can not hammer home that point enough. He has been critical to the franchise’s success over the last decade or so and he continues to be a cornerstone of a blueline that ranks as one of the best in the NHL.
He is an elite two-way defenseman who can do a bit of everything and he could slot in on Vegas’ top line straight away. Not only that but the 28-year-old is averaging 20:44 minutes of total ice time through three games this year, and he’s not dropped below an average of 20 minutes of ice time per night since 2014-15.
So, not only can Krug log monster minutes every night but he’s also durable and he ranks 25th when it comes to the most games played out of any active defenseman in the NHL. Not bad at all.
Arguably Krug’s biggest strength is the offensive aspect to his game, having reached the 50 point plateau in each of the last three years, recording six goals and 47 assists for 53 points in 64 games last season.
He’s also a potent weapon on the power play having contributed a huge 30 points on the man advantage last year, and Krug has tallied a total of 133 power play points in 465 career NHL regular season games.
Krug ranked as the 12th highest-scoring defenseman in the NHL in 2018-19, and he had the 7th best points per game ratio (0.83) out of all NHL defensemen who played at least 20 games last year.
And the defenseman also boasts a wicked and deadly release, as the Golden Knights found out to their cost on Tuesday when Krug absolutely wired a thunderous slapshot from the point beyond Marc-Andre Fleury.
He’s tough as nails, too, and isn’t afraid to lay the body on as perfectly illustrated by that stunning hit on St. Louis Blues forward Robert Thomas during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2018-19.
One of the biggest slights on Krug has been his play in the defensive zone, but the stats tell a different story and suggest that those criticisms are a tad harsh.
For instance, and thanks to our good friends over at Causeway Crowd for this little nugget, Krug has a plus / minus rating of +29 in 462 regular season games since 2013, which suggests that he’s not nearly as bad in his own zone as some make out.
What would Krug cost?
Now, isn’t this the million dollar question.
As mentioned earlier in this article, Torey Krug is currently in the last year of a four-year, $21,000,00 deal with an average annual value of $5,250,000.
At 28-years-old and bang in the middle of his prime, Krug probably won’t get another chance to enjoy a big payday and it is likely he would be seeking a term of between four-six years with an average annual value of $6 or $7 million.
That could prove to be a problem for Boston who are known for building contenders year after year while keeping all of their stars intact on team-friendly deals, something they have done this year after handing bridge deals to young studs Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy.
So, Krug could decide to go down that road and remain with the Bruins on a team-friendly deal or, if he wanted to cash in, then hitting free agency would certainly be the best way to ensuring that his bank account gets a significant injection of funds.
And if Krug does decide to head down that road, then the Vegas Golden Knights could be significant players when making a pitch for the defenseman.
For starters, they are a Stanley Cup contender and are built to win right now and they will also have the cash to splash given that they are projected to have over $15 million in cap space in which to spend, and that could increase depending on what happens with the salary cap next year.
Vegas Owner Bill Foley has hinted that the Golden Knights will have the flexibility to make a move at the Trade Deadline so they could look to trade for Krug, but that will of course involve giving up picks and assets.
The Knights would be better waiting until Krug hits the free agency market but, if the front office feel that he could be the final piece to push the team over the finishing line this year, then giving up more prospects and picks would be a small price to pay in the short-term.
Conclusion
The Vegas Golden Knights are built to win right now and they have a stacked and talented roster that can contend for, not just one, but multiple Stanley Cups in the foreseeable future.
However, one of their biggest flaws is their blueline and they need to help the likes of Shea Theodore and Nate Schmidt by adding another absolute stud who can log over 20 minutes of ice time a night, man the power play, contribute 30-40 points a year and also bring some grit and snarl to the table.
Next. Flaws highlighted in Boston loss. dark
Torey Krug can offer all of that and he would add a wealth of experience to boot, while he knows what it takes to go deep in the postseason and that know-how would be invaluable on a team trying to win their first championship in franchise history.
Vegas will have the cap space next summer to be able to go out and add a big name and, should they feel that they need to upgrade their blueline, then they should 100 percent consider making a move for Krug if he hits free agency.