*Photo from NBC Sports*
St. Louis Blues defenseman Torey Krug will undergo surgery on his left ankle and miss the entire 2024-2025 season, according to the team.
When asked how it might affect the rest of his playing career, Krug said "It's just something I've got to take care of and kind of take it day by day, week by week, month by month and kind of go from there. Obviously being out for the year, you can understand it's a pretty big surgery that I have to get. Looking forward, I can't forecast too much. Just got to stay in the moment."
Last season was Krug's 4th with the Blues after signing a 7 year deal with them in free agency. He ended the year with 4 goals and 35 assists for 39 points, posting a -31 rating while averaging 21:58 of ice time per game in 77 games.
Krug said the injury to his ankle occurred initially in the 2018 playoffs with the Boston Bruins. He had played through the injury for years and had tried nonsurgical routes to help the pain this offseason, but eventually, surgery became necessary for Krug to simply live his everyday life pain free.
Asked about getting the surgery now, Krug said "Obviously at some point, you do have to commit to fixing it. I have a date now for the surgery. Before I was just kind of holding out hope and trying to be as honest as possible with the Blues. I've got to get a couple screws in there to fuse a couple bones together. It's a sub-talar fusion, which is a pretty big surgery and process, especially for a 33-year-old man. A lot of people that get this procedure done are a lot older than I am. It's going to be a tough one for sure, but we'll see how it all shakes out."
With Krug now out for the season, the Blues can place his $6.5 million contract on LTIR to avoid his contract being counted against the salary cap. Including the coming season, he has 3 years left on his contract and can hit free agency at the end of the 2026-2027 season.
Krug has played for the Bruins and Blues in his 13 year NHL career after breaking into the league as an undrafted free agent. He has 89 goals and 394 assists to his name, averaging 20:30 of ice time and notching an even 0 rating in 778 regular season games. He has an additional 11 goals and 46 assists in 82 playoff games.
The Blues have Nick Leddy, Ryan Suter, Philip Broberg, Scott Perunovich, and Pierre-Olivier Joseph are all left shot defenseman who are on the roster that can cover the top 4 role held by Krug, while Perunovich and Justin Faulk are most likely to take Krug's minutes on the Blues' top power play unit.
Comments
Post a Comment