The Boston Bruins have agreed to terms with D Torey Krug on a four year, $21MM deal, the team announced Thursday. NHL analyst Aaron Ward was first with the report. The $5.25MM AAV represents a sizable increase on the $3.4MM he earned last season. Sports Illustrated’s Alex Prewitt adds that the deal contains a no-trade clause that kicks in for the final two years of the contract.
The announcement comes mere hours after the team placed fellow blueliner Dennis Seidenberg on waivers for the purposes of a contract buyout.
Last year, Krug played in a career best 81 games with the Bruins, picking up four goals and 40 assists while averaging 21:36 of ice time per game. Those 44 points ranked him 9th in the NHL amongst all defenders. His goal total was a big drop from the past two years where he had 14 and 12 respectively but at the same time, he set a career high in assists.
Krug signed with Boston in 2012 as an undrafted free agent. In 241 career NHL games, he has 30 goals and 90 assists. With Zdeno Chara showing signs of slowing down in recent years, the Bruins are likely expecting Krug to take on more of the load and be a top pairing blueliner moving forward.
The Bruins now have just over $17.6MM in cap space remaining according to Cap Friendly. With just 16 players signed, they are expected to be active in the free agent market in the coming days.