Bruins reportedly ‘holding firm’ on latest offer to Torey Krug
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
The Boston Bruins are not upping their latest offer to pending free agent defenseman Torey Krug, and have decided to hold firm on their six-year, $39 million offer, according to TSN’s Frank Seravalli.
Boston’s power-play quarterback for the last seven years, Krug is set to hit the open market at noon on Friday, and after a 2019-20 season that featured nine goals and 49 points in 61 games prior to the COVID-19 stoppage. The 5-foot-9 defender then added six assists in the 13-game summer restart and 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs from inside the Toronto bubble.
Earlier this week, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney noted that there’s been no progress since he last spoke with the media. And speaking after the second day of the 2020 NHL Draft, Sweeney talked about the need for the Bruins to improve, but noted that the opportunities they’ve explored haven’t come to fruition. He also mentioned that they haven’t been able to circle back to some of the team’s pending free agents. Krug certainly checks the boxes on both of those fronts.
“We’ve tried to look at our roster and we’ve explored some opportunities over the past three weeks and it hasn’t come to fruition that we’ve changed anybody and this point in time,” Sweeney said Wednesday. “It may. There’s been just a lot of conversations going on about the financial aspects in the landscape and how things are going to look. Some teams have made some moves in that regard, and we’re trying to look at it from a wide lens and realistically. Knowing that our club, we do have to improve. That’s through internal growth or obviously through some acquisition. And we’re going to explore them.”
It’s believed that the Bruins are going to market prioritizing a top-six scorer and some potential value adds, but it’s also believed that the Bruins will circle back to No. 47 and see if there’s a deal to be made after he takes a look at his market.
Krug will have his choice of suitors, too.
It’s long been rumored that his hometown Detroit Red Wings will come calling, while the Columbus Blue Jackets, who cleared some space and cap room off their blue line with Thursday trades involving Ryan Murray and Markus Nuttivaara, will be potential players in the Krug sweepstakes.
Krug has spent his entire career with the Bruins, and his 337 points in 523 game are the most in franchise history by any American-born player.