Torey Krug Set To Become UFA But Door Still Open For Bruins

All signs are pointing towards Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug hitting the open market at noon Friday as an unrestricted free agent but neither Krug nor the Bruins have closed the door on a potential deal for the team’s powerplay quarterback to remain a Bruin past this season. 

Frank Seravalli of TSN tweeted Thursday night that the Bruins were holding firm on their most recent offer of a six-year contract that would carry an annual cap hit of $6.5 million per season. 

An NHL source also confirmed as much to Boston Hockey Now and stressed that any rumors circling social media that say Torey Krug informed Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney that Krug was ‘definitely hitting the market’ were false.

“Totally untrue. Nothing is certain right now,” the source told BHN.

Following the NHL Draft on Wednesday, Sweeney said he had no new news on the Krug front nor did he know if he would be able to trade Krug’s negotiating rights and get some sort of last-minute return before Krug potentially hit the free agent market Friday.

“Again, it’s pretty hard to predict and obviously you’re seeing some RFA deals and some UFA deals just start to trickle in, so maybe that is going to start the process overall as we head into [Friday],” Sweeney told the media. “As of right now, none of those deals have – outside of Edmonton, Calgary and Montreal, where they did trade the rights. I can only speak for our situation relative to everybody else’s.”

Earlier in the week, Sweeney reiterated that he and the Bruins intended to leave the door open for Torey Krug to return even if he tested the market.

“Yeah we’d consider anything at this point in time including the fact that several free agents have gone and tested the market and come back to the same place that they were at, and it’s something we would also consider,” Sweeney said this past Monday. 

Sweeney also stressed that he still holds the utmost respect for Torey Krug and respects what the undrafted NCAA free agent who signed with the Bruins out of Michigan State back in March 2012 has achieved during his time as a Bruin. Unfortunately, this current situation is just the harsh reality of a flattened cap and a financial climate impacted by the pandemic. 

“There’s no way in hell you’re going to change my opinion of what I think Torey has the right to do and I believe that,” Sweeney said. So, he’s put himself in a great position either with us or with other teams that have interest in him. I’ll listen to any situation that might improve our hockey club and move forward from there if it plays out that way. 

There’s no animosity whatsoever in this situation with this player. Every team has sticky deals and tries to thread the needle so to speak in this day and age with the salary cap and competitive environment that we’re all in and trying to win. Those things collide.”

According to numerous sources around the NHL, The Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Vegas Golden Knights, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, and New York Islanders are all expected to pursue Krug once he becomes a UFA.