Player Discussion Torey Krug IV

[Kalus]

I mean if we are playing that card same goes for backes with his no movement clause.

I’m just saying. If I’m Ottawa I’m exploring many many other avenues before I try to acquire backes for 3 years at $6mil because of leadership qualities while the senators are basement dwellers. As I stated first, I’m looking to acquire young talent with a duchene trade and not aging veterans.

I think Backes is very movable summer of ‘19.

Contract goes to modified no trade (from no move). He is due a $3M bonus.

A budget/rebuilding team gets a vet leader to mentor the kids with a $6M cap hit for his remains two years while only paying $2.5M / year in real dollars. That $3.5M in “free” cap hit can be valuable in helping a team get to the cap floor (especially with it rising so much).

It’s only an 8 team trade list so it probably wouldn’t include budget/rebuilding teams, but Backes seems like a reasonable guy who may not want to stay if it means sitting in the press box / getting waived etc.

Now, pairing that trade with Krug wouldn’t make sense for reasons already mentioned in this thread.

 

[ON3M4N]

Krug is that kind of player B's fans screamed about for years, a OFD that could score from the backend. Now that we have one people complain that his defense isn't good enough. If/when he's gone, the shift will happen again and those who complained about him will be screaming for a OFD that can put up points.

 

[BMC]

Krug is that kind of player B's fans screamed about for years, a OFD that could score from the backend. Now that we have one people complain that his defense isn't good enough. If/when he's gone, the shift will happen again and those who complained about him will be screaming for a OFD that can put up points.

We got very spoiled with Ray Bourque who was excellent at doing both.

And yes, I am a Krug skeptic. IMO he's very good on offense but his defense needs work although part of that issue is his lack of size/strength. At 5-9 170+ he simply isn't big or strong enough to move bodies out of the way on his own.

 

[ON3M4N]

We got very spoiled with Ray Bourque who was excellent at doing both.

And yes, I am a Krug skeptic. IMO he's very good on offense but his defense needs work although part of that issue is his lack of size/strength. At 5-9 170+ he simply isn't big or strong enough to move bodies out of the way on his own.

Correct and he'll never be a guy that can do that. This was part of the reason I think Moore was brought in. Its up to Cassidy & Co. to pull a BB and put Krug in situations to succeed. That's why I've been big on having Krug on the 3rd pairing, allowing Moore (a more two-way type d-man) to play along with Carlo.

Krug gets the benefit of playing against lesser talented forwards which should help at both ends. Miller last year was a +13 player at ES playing with Gryz (for the most part), so he's comfortable playing with an undersized d-man whose more offensive minded. Krug would still be your QB on the #1 PP and if less ES TOI, maybe you even have him QB both PP's.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

We got very spoiled with Ray Bourque who was excellent at doing both.

And yes, I am a Krug skeptic. IMO he's very good on offense but his defense needs work although part of that issue is his lack of size/strength. At 5-9 170+ he simply isn't big or strong enough to move bodies out of the way on his own.

yeah, and expecting him to be a shutdown physical defender and as dangerous of a scoring weapon is completely unfair.

If he was, he'd be Doughty/Keith/Karlsson.

You know who else gets pushed around in their own zone? Faulk, Hanifin, OEL, Yandle...the guys a certain portion of fans here drool over.

And why is it only offensive d men that get the "yeah but you're only great at 1 thing" criticism? I dont see anyone bitching about Carlo because he is a black hole on offense

 

[BMC]

yeah, and expecting him to be a shutdown physical defender and as dangerous of a scoring weapon is completely unfair.

If he was, he'd be Doughty/Keith/Karlsson.

You know who else gets pushed around in their own zone? Faulk, Hanifin, OEL, Yandle...the guys a certain portion of fans here drool over.

And why is it only offensive d men that get the "yeah but you're only great at 1 thing" criticism? I dont see anyone *****ing about Carlo because he is a black hole on offense

The first responsibility of any defenseman is to defend. There are those who will argue that one way to defend is to keep the puck in your opponents' end and there is some truth to that. However a defenseman must also be capable of protecting his own end. Krug is willing- he's tough & he has guts- but he just isn't big enough. I have the same concerns with Gryz too. Both of them got pushed around badly during the Tampa Bay series. If they were 6 feet 185-190 I'd feel a lot better about both of them.

 

[bme44]

The first responsibility of any defenseman is to defend. There are those who will argue that one way to defend is to keep the puck in your opponents' end and there is some truth to that. However a defenseman must also be capable of protecting his own end. Krug is willing- he's tough & he has guts- but he just isn't big enough. I have the same concerns with Gryz too. Both of them got pushed around badly during the Tampa Bay series. If they were 6 feet 185-190 I'd feel a lot better about both of them.

There is no room for both Krug and Gryz on a contending team . If both are in your top six, you are a pretending team. No team can make it to Stanley Cup with those two on your left side D

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

There is no room for both Krug and Gryz on a contending team . If both are in your top six, you are a pretending team. No team can make it to Stanley Cup with those two on your left side D

Gryz is a nice player, but he is a quarter to Krug's dollar

 

[Fopppa]

I for one don’t really see Krug’s lack of size as the biggest problem he has regarding defending. It’s his foot speed and acceleration that doesn’t really mesh with his size. He’s a pretty shifty skater, glides well, has decent edge work and is solid on his skates for a guy his size, but when he has to turn and chase he is toast. His legs are moving but he looks like he’s standing still at times.

I’d imagine both he and the coaching staff see this and they probably work on it, but he really should adjust his positioning and reading of the game in certain situations at the offensive blue line and in the neutral zone. He gets overrun way too often for my liking, and often in a big way as well.

That being said, I think he’s pretty essential to the team for what he brings in the o-zone, on the PP and in a leadership role. Will be interesting to see how Cassidy et al plan on deploying the D men this season.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

The first responsibility of any defenseman is to defend. There are those who will argue that one way to defend is to keep the puck in your opponents' end and there is some truth to that. However a defenseman must also be capable of protecting his own end. Krug is willing- he's tough & he has guts- but he just isn't big enough. I have the same concerns with Gryz too. Both of them got pushed around badly during the Tampa Bay series. If they were 6 feet 185-190 I'd feel a lot better about both of them.

the nhl has become such a game of systems and team play... goals have become more about capitalizing on break downs as opposed to the days when I started watching hockey where outstanding personal efforts were leading to most of the goals

when a guy is the weakest link in the chain... it stands out more these days. krug will probably make the right play 85-90-95% of the time because everyone lives up to those high lofty status these days. even the worst guys on the team usually are able to form lines and do the right thing at the right time.

where I have my problems with krug… and I suspect most of his critics do... is that krug`s breakdowns are often couple with the other teams top players making a big individual play. its this combination of factors that sees krug getting scored on too often. he just doesn't have the upper end defensive ability to hang and bang with the top offensive opposition

it always needs to be acknowledged that krug does counter the balance by being a very strong if not outstanding offensive dman. he does help more than he hurts.

but defense is a problem and even guys like me can see it with the naked eye. hes a flawed dman and there is tough choice to make whether or not the cap hit is justified for this type of guy on this particular team.

with the huge influx of smaller pp qb prospects/kids flooding into the nhl… we might be wise to change our horse and live with one of these other guys getting the nod

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

yeah, and expecting him to be a shutdown physical defender and as dangerous of a scoring weapon is completely unfair.

If he was, he'd be Doughty/Keith/Karlsson.

You know who else gets pushed around in their own zone? Faulk, Hanifin, OEL, Yandle...the guys a certain portion of fans here drool over.

And why is it only offensive d men that get the "yeah but you're only great at 1 thing" criticism? I dont see anyone *****ing about Carlo because he is a black hole on offense

you are like me... name names... that's good. I like that
but the names you and I name are never 100% equal. similar sure... not equal

im honestly not sure how much support youd find here to bring in faulk or Yandle or even oel at their cap hits. at a lower cap hit, they are more desirable. that's true for krug too. if krug had a lower cap hit I can promise you I wouldn't say boo about him. at 1/2 cap hit id call krug one of the best bargains in nhl. at 1/2 cap hit id call him the best 3rd pair dman in the nhl

guys like oel… Yandle... faulk… they certainly have their fans because they are flashy offensive guys and some fans like that. but theres a hell of a lot of posters that say they wouldn't want these guys at that cap hit... that they wouldn't want these guys as first pair dmen…

that is the same thing we say about krug… so its a good comparable the list you made. honestly I wouldn't trade krug for either Yandle or faulk.. they have slipped in recent years. I would take oel but I wouldn't at the cap hit without serious input by my pro scouts. and hanifin has the advantage of being young so I take him... but krug is the better player today.

cap hit/contract does matter

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

the nhl has become such a game of systems and team play... goals have become more about capitalizing on break downs as opposed to the days when I started watching hockey where outstanding personal efforts were leading to most of the goals

when a guy is the weakest link in the chain... it stands out more these days. krug will probably make the right play 85-90-95% of the time because everyone lives up to those high lofty status these days. even the worst guys on the team usually are able to form lines and do the right thing at the right time.

where I have my problems with krug… and I suspect most of his critics do... is that krug`s breakdowns are often couple with the other teams top players making a big individual play. its this combination of factors that sees krug getting scored on too often. he just doesn't have the upper end defensive ability to hang and bang with the top offensive opposition

it always needs to be acknowledged that krug does counter the balance by being a very strong if not outstanding offensive dman. he does help more than he hurts.

but defense is a problem and even guys like me can see it with the naked eye. hes a flawed dman and there is tough choice to make whether or not the cap hit is justified for this type of guy on this particular team.

with the huge influx of smaller pp qb prospects/kids flooding into the nhl… we might be wise to change our horse and live with one of these other guys getting the nod

long story short, lets make another hole on the team because we had to fix something that wasnt broken

Krug doesn't get abused/scored on any more than other defenders...what you are seeing is confirmation bias. Everytime Krug does it you harp on it, but dont notice it from other players.

ES GA the last 3 years:

Krug: 52+61+59 = 172 total
Chara: 61+64+54 = 179 total

oh, and just for fun...OEL the last 3 years is at 236 ES GA

 

[Seidenbergy]

long story short, lets make another hole on the team because we had to fix something that wasnt broken

Krug doesn't get abused/scored on any more than other defenders...what you are seeing is confirmation bias. Everytime Krug does it you harp on it, but dont notice it from other players.

ES GA the last 3 years:

Krug: 52+61+59 = 172 total
Chara: 61+64+54 = 179 total

oh, and just for fun...OEL the last 3 years is at 236 ES GA

To be fair, Chara averages about 2 mins more of ice time per game at even strength. And he's facing the opponent's top lines, unlike Krug.

 

[LSCII]

I'm not sure what people expect from Krug. Elite offensive defensemen have a place in today's game, and despite the holes in his defensive side (IE lack of size), he is an elite offensive d-man. I'd much rather have the issue with too many of those guys on the roster than too many stay at home pylons, personally. But hey, that's just me.

 

[False Start]

I for one don’t really see Krug’s lack of size as the biggest problem he has regarding defending. It’s his foot speed and acceleration that doesn’t really mesh with his size. He’s a pretty shifty skater, glides well, has decent edge work and is solid on his skates for a guy his size, but when he has to turn and chase he is toast. His legs are moving but he looks like he’s standing still at times.

I’d imagine both he and the coaching staff see this and they probably work on it, but he really should adjust his positioning and reading of the game in certain situations at the offensive blue line and in the neutral zone. He gets overrun way too often for my liking, and often in a big way as well.

That being said, I think he’s pretty essential to the team for what he brings in the o-zone, on the PP and in a leadership role. Will be interesting to see how Cassidy et al plan on deploying the D men this season.

Krug was a plus skater in his rookie year. Since then he's bulked up so he can defend better in the corners.

His footspeed took a hit as a result.

We most likely won't see his rookie year speed where he confidently skated around people often.

 

[Mainehockey33]

I’m looking forward to seeing Krug on the 3rd pair. There’s nothing wrong with an offensive or power play specialist. He’ll do some damage against other teams bottom 6.

 

[Gordoff]

you are like me... name names... that's good. I like that
but the names you and I name are never 100% equal. similar sure... not equal

im honestly not sure how much support youd find here to bring in faulk or Yandle or even oel at their cap hits. at a lower cap hit, they are more desirable. that's true for krug too. if krug had a lower cap hit I can promise you I wouldn't say boo about him. at 1/2 cap hit id call krug one of the best bargains in nhl. at 1/2 cap hit id call him the best 3rd pair dman in the nhl

guys like oel… Yandle... faulk… they certainly have their fans because they are flashy offensive guys and some fans like that. but theres a hell of a lot of posters that say they wouldn't want these guys at that cap hit... that they wouldn't want these guys as first pair dmen…

that is the same thing we say about krug… so its a good comparable the list you made. honestly I wouldn't trade krug for either Yandle or faulk.. they have slipped in recent years. I would take oel but I wouldn't at the cap hit without serious input by my pro scouts. and hanifin has the advantage of being young so I take him... but krug is the better player today.

cap hit/contract does matter

The Bruins "pro scouts?" They shouldn't be the last word on ANY trade IMO. They're sub-par. Agreed though, I'm not interested in Yandle or Faulk either, Hanafin, I take a shot at.

 

[UncleRico]

Krug is that kind of player B's fans screamed about for years, a OFD that could score from the backend. Now that we have one people complain that his defense isn't good enough. If/when he's gone, the shift will happen again and those who complained about him will be screaming for a OFD that can put up points.

I don’t think people want Krug gone completely. They just don’t want him in a top 4 role getting 20+ minutes a night. I think most people want him in a 3rd pairing role while still getting a ton of power play time and also on the ice when the bruins are down in games.

Biggest problem is not having a #2 LHD you can put in the game late to help protect a lead when opposing teams are shortening their bench and putting their best players out there to win. There’s way too much pressure on chara at his increasing age to face non stop high qualities of competition.

 

[Nothingbutglass]

I don’t think people want Krug gone completely. They just don’t want him in a top 4 role getting 20+ minutes a night. I think most people want him in a 3rd pairing role while still getting a ton of power play time and also on the ice when the bruins are down in games.

Biggest problem is not having a #2 LHD you can put in the game late to help protect a lead when opposing teams are shortening their bench and putting their best players out there to win. There’s way too much pressure on chara at his increasing age to face non stop high qualities of competition.

Like a prime Seidenberg

 

[JOKER 192]

#NHLTopPlayers: Top 20 Defensemen

He's a very polarizing player on this site - seems most here either love him or find him very flawed.

Ranked 16 on this particular list in the NHL. Thoughts?

Very polarizing indeed, Ranked 13th on the Fantasy Top 50 Defensemen.

Fantasy list aren't quite the same as other lists but still.

Fantasy top 50 defenseman rankings for 2018-19

Maybe he more than what most around here (me included) give him credit for.

 

[bob27]

I don’t think people want Krug gone completely. They just don’t want him in a top 4 role getting 20+ minutes a night. I think most people want him in a 3rd pairing role while still getting a ton of power play time and also on the ice when the bruins are down in games.

Biggest problem is not having a #2 LHD you can put in the game late to help protect a lead when opposing teams are shortening their bench and putting their best players out there to win. There’s way too much pressure on chara at his increasing age to face non stop high qualities of competition.

Bruins generally do fine when protecting lead. They have the best defensive forward in hockey history, great goalie and a bunch of other solid defensive assets. I'm far more worried about situations where Bruins need goals when they are down. Krug is invaluable when Bruins need goals (see the game tying goal in Game 7 against the Leafs). As was shown in the series against Ottawa in 2016, the offence just isn't coming as easily when Krug isn't there.

 

[ON3M4N]

I don’t think people want Krug gone completely. They just don’t want him in a top 4 role getting 20+ minutes a night. I think most people want him in a 3rd pairing role while still getting a ton of power play time and also on the ice when the bruins are down in games.

Biggest problem is not having a #2 LHD you can put in the game late to help protect a lead when opposing teams are shortening their bench and putting their best players out there to win. There’s way too much pressure on chara at his increasing age to face non stop high qualities of competition.

I see a lot of people who talk about moving him via trade. If you go over to CF and look through ACGM's, he's in 95% of them as a trade piece.

 

[UncleRico]

I see a lot of people who talk about moving him via trade. If you go over to CF and look through ACGM's, he's in 95% of them as a trade piece.

That’s because his contract lines up well with a lot of trades and we are stacked with LHD right now. Not many other movable contracts that the bruins would be willing to part with besides Krugs. And not many other contracts opposing teams would like to acquire that bruins would also to be willing to move besides Krugs and prospects/young players.

 

[UncleRico]

Bruins generally do fine when protecting lead. They have the best defensive forward in hockey history, great goalie and a bunch of other solid defensive assets. I'm far more worried about situations where Bruins need goals when they are down. Krug is invaluable when Bruins need goals (see the game tying goal in Game 7 against the Leafs). As was shown in the series against Ottawa in 2016, the offence just isn't coming as easily when Krug isn't there.

If you trade Krug for panarin, you will be getting more offense there, also if Krug is gone that will allow mcavoy and gryz to get a lot more offensive opportunities they weren’t previously getting. Not saying mcavoy and gryz will match what Krug did, but mcavoy and gryz can definitely be a competent replacement.

 

[ON3M4N]

That’s because his contract lines up well with a lot of trades and we are stacked with LHD right now. Not many other movable contracts that the bruins would be willing to part with besides Krugs. And not many other contracts opposing teams would like to acquire that bruins would also to be willing to move besides Krugs and prospects/young players.

I'm well aware of how the contract lines-up and why its attractive to other teams. Still the point is, he's in most ACGM's because people want to move him.