Detroit Red Wings: 5 Free Agents to sign this offseason
By Bob Heyrman
Torey Krug
Torey Krug checks plenty of boxes for the Detroit Red Wings. Krug is a Livonia, Michigan native that played college hockey with the Michigan State Spartans. It’s hard to imagine any player willingly going from the best team in the NHL to the worst, but maybe Yzerman can entice Krug to come ‘home’ and play for Detroit.
Krug is expected to leave Boston due to salary cap issues. The Bruins won’t be able to pay their star defenseman the same amount of money he will find elsewhere. The Detroit Red Wings have the cash to pay Krug whatever the open market dictates for his services. I’d expect somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 million per season. That’s big money, but Krug and Alex Pietrangelo will be the best available defensemen.
The Detroit Red Wings are desperate to add a quality defenseman, a number one NHL caliber defenseman, and Krug is just that. Krug recently turned 29-years old; he’s in the prime of his career, and not only would he be Detroit’s top defender for years to come, but he would also be a great mentor to both Filip Hronek and Moritz Sieder. Krug is a left-handed shot, which will pair perfectly with Hronek making up Detroit’s top pairing.
At this point, Hronek and Danny DeKeyser are considered Detroit’s top defenders, but DeKeyser can’t seem to stay healthy and has failed to develop into a top-pairing defender. Hronek is just finding his way as a professional but has shown tremendous positive growth this year.
Krug has spent his entire seven-year NHL career with the Boston Bruins. He’s averaged 48 points per season over those seven years. Over the last four years, Torey has averaged 53 points per season, averaging 20-plus minutes of ice-time per game.
This season with Boston, Krug has produced a stellar 56.2 Corsi For Percentage, to go along with his nine goals, 49 points in 61 games played.