Kalman: Still Youthful Krug Ready To Play, Mentor For Bruins For Long Haul
By Matt Kalman, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Bruins defenseman Torey Krug has been through almost everything with the Bruins.
He joined the team at the tail end of their failed attempt to defend their Stanley Cup title in 2012, then spent a full season with Providence of the AHL before helping with another run to the Stanley Cup finals in 2013 playoffs.
Over the years there have been other playoff runs, a couple of seasons without making the playoffs, contract disputes and contract extensions. He's been banged up and been healthy, and had a couple of surgeries along the way.
All the experiences add up to make it seem like Krug is a greying veteran who has been with the Bruins forever, but he's just 26 years old. As the Bruins' average age continues to drop with the influx of youth into the lineup, though, Krug is emerging as an elder statesman of sorts and a mentor to the younger players that are so vital to the future.
It's a role he said he embraces as he spoke before teeing off at Shawn Thornton's Putts and Punches golf tournament at Ferncroft Country Club on Monday.
"I don't know if I want to be called a father figure for a while," Krug said with a chuckle after that term was suggested to him. "But I'm serving to bridge that gap between the young guys and the older guys. Being in the Stanley Cup finals and this is going to be my sixth year of pro, I'm serving as that bridge to help not only on the ice and in the locker room but socially as well, kind of bringing those young guys and helping them feel comfortable talking to older guys. That's kind of the role that I'm trying to take on."
Krug has good reason to be interested in making sure the Bruins' prospects are put in the best position to succeed and further the Bruins' progress toward becoming a contender again. He is signed here for three more seasons at an annual cap charge of $5.25 million.
His contract status and improved play (he set career highs with 43 assists and 51 points last season), as well as the Bruins' depth of defensive prospects, might make him someone they'd likely trade in the near future. Krug, though, has felt reassured that he's part of the core of the Bruins along with the likes of Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask and others.
"Absolutely. I've been involved in certain meetings and that says a lot," Krug said. "Also talking with some of the veteran guys throughout the summer, being involved in Boston, in the community and also in the training programs throughout the summer, you feel like you're part of it. So definitely I've gotten that feeling from [general manager Don Sweeney] and also from [coach] Bruce [Cassidy] as well that I'm part of that group."
It's easy to sit here in the summer of 2017 and envision a world where Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, Jeremy Lauzon, Ryan Lindgren and Urho Vaakanainen are all top-four caliber defensemen filling up the Bruins' defense corps in 2020, while players like Krug have been moved to replenish other positions. But not all of Boston's prospects are going to meet their draft-day potential, there will be injuries and, in general, every team needs a mix of younger players, older players and middle-aged players like Krug is now. As a leader and mentor, as well as a solid two-way player, Krug could provide the Bruins with more as a part of the organization than he might as trade bait down the road.
The knee injury that shortened his 2016-17 season didn't require surgery and Krug said he feels better now than he has before camp for several years. He's still working to improve his offensive and defensive games in an effort to shake that "offensive defenseman" tag, which he has already kind of lost with the Bruins. His role has expanded every season and even if he's reached the maximum amount of responsibility he's capable of assuming, he's the type of player any team would regret losing both on and off the ice.
If things go as planned, that feeling that Krug has been here forever will turn into a fact that Krug has been here forever. And the Bruins could be better for it.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @MattKalman.
