Last week, we examined unrestricted free agent-to-be Torey Krug’s comments made to the Boston media as part of his end-of-the-season Zoom call, and it seems relatively apparent that Krug will at least strongly consider testing the unrestricted free agent marketplace in early October. I’m not a fan of the Krug-to-Detroit narrative, but many media types seem to believe that Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman will manage to sway Krug to sign with the rebuilding Wings.
This morning, MLive’s Ansar Khan weighs in on the possibility of a Krug-to-Detroit scenario via answering a reader question, and Khan does believe that the Wings will make an attempt to bring the Livonia native “home.” However…
Would it be the right move? Yes. Long-term contracts often become an albatross for teams in the final couple of seasons, but that’s the cost of doing business. The Red Wings need to add some talent, in addition to developing their own, to make significant strides.
But would Krug want to leave a Stanley Cup contender, the top team in the league during the regular season, for a club that figures to struggle for at least a couple more years, even if it is his hometown team?
The Bruins do not want to lose Krug and have the cap space to sign him.
My guess is Krug remains in Boston, forcing the Red Wings to pursue one or two second- or third-tier free-agent defensemen, or perhaps use some of their draft picks to trade for one.
Khan continues; I wouldn’t be surprised to see Krug leave the Bruins (they have to utilize their CapFriendly-estimated $15.5 million in cap space to re-sign restricted free agents Jake DeBrusk and Matt Grzelcyk, as well as several unrestricted free agents in Krug, possibly Zdeno Chara and/or Kevan Miller and/or Joakim Nordstrom), but I just don’t see him coming to Detroit.
That being said, one never knows what free agency will bring, and I’ve seen stranger free agent “fits” happen for sentimentality’s sake.
