And this means he is a bad player?
Not worth of getting free?
We could have gotten Quinn Hughes for free and on an ELC. Krug will not be free, there will be substantial risk attached to any contract you can sign him to as an UFA. You wouldn't need to trade assets but he's likely to have the same cost to sign as Trouba: 7 years, $56 million. Trouba is 25 and will likely still be in his prime when that contract ends. If Krug signs a 7 year deal he'll be 35 which has a lot of risk associated with a deal that long and paying him a premium at that age. It could become a very bad contract that can only be moved to a team that needs to get to the cap floor.
I'd be OK with Krug and also be willing to pay him a higher AAV on a shorter deal, say 4-5 years. I'd be very concerned about every year at 33 or older. If he wants to come back to Michigan that would be my offer: 4 years $10 million per or 5 years $8.5 million per year. That's probably about $12 to $16 million less than he could get with a 7 year deal on the open market. However 4 or 5 years is where I would draw the line. I would not sign him to a contract where he will be 35 in the final year of the deal.
It's a tough decision either way. I really wish we would have drafted Hughes, who will likely be a better player than Krug, is much younger, and would provide incredible value over the lifetime of the deal. Poor drafting is why we are one of the absolute worst teams in the league and have to consider overpaying for a UFA to address a clear organizational shortcoming and take on the associated risk of doing so.
