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When it comes to Torey Krug (and Reilly Smith as well for that matter), the Boston Bruins are absurdly lucky. Or smart. Though both Krug and Smith are restricted free agents, their National Hockey League experience (or lack thereof) has by all means cemented their skates in Boston for the 2014-15 season at the very least.
Lacking the three years of NHL experience needed to go to arbitration or receive an offer sheet, the Bruins’ exclusive rights with two major pieces of their youthful core has really slowed any rush to get them signed down to an absolute crawl.
They’ll be here in the Hub or at home without a deal.
Well, hold that thought for a quick minute.
According to CSNNE's Joe Haggerty, a source close to Krug has informed him that the 23-year-old defenseman, who finished fourth in Calder Trophy voting last season, has a big money offer from a team in the famed Kontinental Hockey League, the NHL’s biggest competitor for NHL-talent.
A source with knowledge of Krug’s negotiations told CSNNE.com that there’s been a sizable offer made for the defenseman’s services by an unidentified KHL team. The offer, according to the source, included a good chunk of money up front as a signing bonus.When contacted by CSNNE.com, Krug’s agent, Lewis Gross, wouldn’t confirm, or deny, that the KHL offer existed, and instead offered an apologetic “no comment.…
There’s no denying the fact that the Michigan-born Krug deserves his payday.
His 40 points were fourth among rookie skaters in 2013-14 (tops among rookie defensemen by a respectable 10-point margin, as only Anaheim’s Hampus Lindholm came close, finishing the year with 30 points). Krug’s presence breathed life back into the formerly forever-listless Boston power play, finishing the year with 25 power-play points, and he even came three goals away from matching Ray Bourque’s single-season record for goals by a rookie B’s defenseman (17).
But it’s widely believed (borderline ‘known’ at this point) that the Bruins won’t be able to give No. 47 that major payday in 2014-15 due to their cap restrictions, and that Krug will have to settle on a one or two year bridge deal that’d come with a modest cap-hit anywhere from $1.5-2.5 million per year.
It’s also believed that Krug’s camp could use this reported KHL offer as a bargaining chip with the B’s.
This would, in essence anyways, be Krug’s only upper-handing ability when it comes to hammering out a deal with the club this year. Could -- or perhaps better yet -- would Krug honestly ditch the NHL for a big money, by all means tax-free contract with a KHL club? I really don’t think so. While the KHL has been kind to undersized puck-movers like Kevin Dallman (Hey, remember him, Bruins fans?) and Yakov Rylov, Krug’s best chance for success is in this league, and it’s with the Bruins. That’s an undeniable truth, and jetting off to the KHL for a contract big on a signing bonus instead of taking a one or two year bridge deal wouldn’t look good on the former Michigan St. captain.
However, it will be interesting to see if this forces B’s general manager Peter Chiarelli to pony up a few more pennies if they feel that Krug’s chances of heading overseas are legitimate, and who (else) finds their way out of town via a cap-clearing trade as a result. ‘Cause again, Krug’s future is here with the Bruins, and on the heels of losing Jarome Iginla off the first power-play unit, they really can’t even stomach the thought of losing Krug, you’d think.
There’s clearly a middleground that’ll be met between the two parties before the start of the season, I think, and I’d personally be shocked if Krug’s skates come anywhere close to KHL ice in 2014-15.
Bruins invite Simon Gagne to training camp
After sitting last season out, veteran forward Simon Gagne will get his chance to crack an NHL roster this fall by way of an invite to training camp courtesy of the Boston Bruins. The 34-year-old Gagne last played in the NHL during the lockout-delayed 2012-13 season, tallying five goals and 16 points in 38 games between the Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers.
A full-time NHLer since the 1999-00 season, the lefty-shooting Gagne will battle for a spot with 11 signed skaters (12 if you include the still unsigned Smith) and is unlikely to bump either Milan Lucic or Brad Marchand from their perches on the left wings of the Bruins' top two lines. However, a healthy Gagne could be an intriguing third-line option on the Carl Soderberg line, or even push as a quick top-line fix on his off-wing with Lucic and David Krejci.
Gagne is no stranger to the Black-and-Gold, as he's burned them for 15 goals and 26 points in 39 career games against. But Gagne is undoubtedly most known as being the guy that kept the Flyers alive in Game 4, and then scored the fourth goal in the Flyers' Game 7 comeback against the B's in the second-round of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, knocking the Bruins out after previously having a 3-0 series lead and 3-0 lead in Game 7.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com