It’s status quo for Torey Krug.
That means the puck-moving Bruins defenseman hasn’t made any progress in contract talks with the team in the final year of his contract and the 27-year-old said he would still like to remain in Boston beyond this season.
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Krug knows a ton of it is out of his control at this point with the regular season on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic and the NHL's salary-cap picture very much in question based on the status of the global economy.
Prior to the shutdown of the season, Krug was in line to sign a long-term contract with somebody this summer for something in the range of $6 million to $8 million per season based on his extensive offensive production the past few years.
Since the beginning of the 2016-17 season, only Brent Burns, John Carlson, Victor Hedman, Roman Josi and Erik Karlsson have produced more points among defensemen than the 212 posted by Krug. That is some heavy-duty NHL company and demonstrates how in-demand he could be this summer if the Bruins allow him to get to free agency on July 1.
“There hasn’t been any discussion," Krug said Tuesday in a virtual town hall with season-ticket holders. "I’m prepared for it just because of the unknown and that nobody knows what the financial implications are going to be for this league, and for each individual team for years to come. That’s still being sorted out. I didn’t really anticipate anything like that. As I’ve said all along, I want to be part of this group, part of this locker room and part of this city.
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“It’s become home for us and we love it. You heard our Fenway bark earlier. We named our dog ‘Fenway.’ How much more Boston can it get? I never thought about it during the season while we were playing, but now that you have a second to think about it the mind wanders a little bit. We always assumed that we’d have some kind of [contract] answer by July 1, but who knows if we’ll have that with regard to the season and how it all plays out. I’m just trying to live in the present and enjoy what we have now, and hopefully finish out the season.”
Certainly, a regular season and playoffs spilling over into the summer could push Krug’s contract situation until the fall. Still, there will eventually be an answer to his long-term future in Boston. It remains to be seen if a flat salary cap might cost the Bruins any chance of retaining Krug. Perhaps they will simply have to hope that guys such as Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk can fill the offensive void left by a Krug departure.
As of now, though, with a season still stalled and no immediate resumption on the horizon, there are much bigger questions than Krug’s contract.