St. Louis Blues defenceman Torey Krug sustained a right-foot injury while training this off-season, the team reported Tuesday morning. The injury will cause the veteran to miss the start of Blues training camp at minimum.
The organization stated that Krug’s injury will be re-evaluated on Oct. 1. Leaving a window for Krug to potentially return on Oct. 12 for the Blues first regular-season game against the Dallas Stars. Though with the severity of Krug’s injury yet to be revealed, there’s no guarantee the defenseman will return in time for the Blues season opener.
Krug, 32, scored seven goals and registered 25 assists for 32 points over 63 games with the Blues in 2022-23. Throughout his career, Krug has continually shown the ability to produce offensively from the back end. Krug has posted 444 points in 701 career NHL regular-season games with the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins. The veteran defenseman is set to enter his fourth season in St. Louis after signing a seven-year, $45.5 million free agent contract with the team in 2020.
The Blues reportedly had a trade in place this off-season to send Krug to the Philadelphia Flyers before he declined to waive his no-trade clause. It was rumored the trade involved a package consisting of Kevin Hayes, Travis Sanheim and potentially more before the transaction fell through. The Blues eventually acquired Kevin Hayes from the Flyers in a re-worked trade.
During the 2022-23 campaign, Krug averaged 18:35 of ice time per game and was a crucial member of the Blues defensive core. It should be interesting to see which other Blues defensemen could step up and take some of that ice time if the veteran misses a significant amount of time with this injury.
Krug has already missed significant time with injuries since becoming a St. Louis Blue. He played just 64 and 63 games, respectively, over the past two seasons, battling upper- and lower-body injuries and even a bout with COVID-19.
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