Vegas Golden Knights 2020 Free Agency: Krug would be perfect Plan B
Torey Krug would be a very nice fallback for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Free Agency frenzy is upon us and it is no secret that the Vegas Golden Knights are aggressively chasing elite defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.
The Golden Knights dealt Paul Stastny to the Winnipeg Jets for defenseman Carl Dahlstrom and a 2022 Fourth-Round pick earlier, clearing some vital cap space in the process.
With teams allowed to go over the salary cap by 10 percent during the off-season, the Knights have given themselves some flexibility when it comes to going big-game hunting in Free Agency today.
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However, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic has reported that Pietrangelo hasn’t closed the door on a return to the St. Louis Blues and he’s going to take time to consider all of his options.
Therefore, there is every chance that the Golden Knights could miss out on their top target so it would be wise to have a Plan B if they are intent on adding a stud to the blueline.
Torey Krug should be that fallback option.
It almost seems disrespectful to label Krug as a fallback option given that he’s a stud defenseman in his own right and, like Pietrangelo, he too is an Unrestricted Free Agent right now.
He would tick a lot of boxes for the Golden Knights and could come in cheaper than Pietrangelo, which would certainly when it comes to managing the salary cap and fitting all the pieces together.
Let us delve right in and explain why Krug could be a perfect option for the Vegas Golden Knights if their White Whale in Alex Pietrangelo doesn’t come through…
Krug the perfect fit
There is a hell of a lot to like about Torey Krug.
He’s skilled, he’s tough, he can produce offense and he’s an absolute lethal weapon on the power play.
Krug is slightly younger than Alex Pietrangelo at 29 and would command less on the open market too, but more on that shortly.
In terms of his on-ice production, Krug has been a mainstay of the Boston Bruins blueline for years now since being signed by the franchise as an Undrafted Free Agent in 2012.
He holds the most points by an American-born player in franchise history with 337 (67 G, 270 A), skating in 523 career regular season games for the Bruins.
Krug is also a proven performer in the postseason having put up 52 points (11 G, 41 A) in 75 Stanley Cup Playoff games, and he had six points (0 G, 6 A) in 13 postseason outings inside The Bubble.
Krug is coming off a 49 point season (9 G, 40 A) in 61 games in 2019-20, while he has averaged at least 20 minutes of ice time per game in each of the last five seasons.
It is also the intangibles you would be getting in Krug that are impressive. A very good skater and a fierce competitor, the 29-year-old would bring a bucketload of grit and tenacity to the Vegas blueline.
He loves battling for pucks in the dirty areas, he throws crushing hits like they are going out of business and he doesn’t back down from a fight in order to send a jolt of energy through his team.
In other words, Krug plays with a lot of heart and he would be a staple of the Golden Knights’ top-four.
And, as elite as he is offensively, Krug is very, very good in his own zone and he’s also built for Playoff hockey so his signing might be enough to push this team over the top.
Plus, with 24 goals and 136 assists on the power play in his career, Krug could man the second power play unit giving the Golden Knights a lethal one-two punch on the man advantage behind Shea Theodore.
Overall, there is a reason why Torey Krug is the second best defenseman on the market right now and he would be a hell of a pickup for the Golden Knights if they can’t lure Alex Pietrangelo to Sin City.
How it would work
Let’s now delve into the logistics of a potential Free Agency deal between the Golden Knights and Torey Krug.
According to TSN Insider Frank Seravalli, the Boston Bruins’ last offer to Krug’s camp was six years with an AAV of $6.5 million.
Seravalli has also reported that Krug hasn’t closed the door on a return to Boston but, based on the above, it would be feasible to predict that seven years with an AAV of $7.5 million could be enough to entice Krug to Sin City.
That is significant because, after trading Paul Stastny to the Winnipeg Jets earlier today, the Golden Knights cleared some much-needed cap space and gave themselves some flexibility to go after a star in Free Agency.
Teams can go over the salary cap by 10 percent during the off-season and Krug’s AAV would come in at less than any deal Alex Pietrangelo would command, so that would lessen the stress on the Knights to go and make another major move or two in order to get cap compliant before the start of the 2020-21 season.
From a financial point of view Krug would be a smart pickup for the Golden Knights and, while Pietrangelo is a more polished overall product, there isn’t a world of difference between the two.
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While Alex Pietrangelo would be the dream scenario for the Vegas Golden Knights, Torey Krug certainly ticks all the boxes too and he would come in slightly cheaper which is an added bonus.