Krug focused on building legacy with Bruins

When Torey Krug and the Boston Bruins were making their run to the Stanley Cup Final last season, the defenseman got a glimpse of what he could be, of what he's always wanted to be.

"Just the potential in my game," Krug said Tuesday in a town hall arranged by the Bruins for season ticket holders. "For so long -- right when I signed my name on that line to play for the Boston Bruins -- I'd been stereotyped in being just an offensive defenseman. For a long, long time I've been fighting that stereotype and that stigma.
"As [coach Bruce Cassidy] has always mentioned, I want my legacy to be a 200-foot player. I want to be remembered [with] the likes of Patrice [Bergeron] and Zdeno [Chara], the legacies they've left, the ones [Brad Marchand] and [David Pastrnak] are working on continually, daily. I want to be up there in that group of guys."
Chara has made a particularly big impact on the Krug, even if their games aren't exactly similar.
"In all honesty, he's been one of the most influential people in my career as a professional hockey player, especially in this town," Krug said. "It's funny, people always ask if I can really look at him and learn things from him -- him being 6-foot-9 and I'm a whole foot shorter than him, at 5-9. It's like, how can you learn stuff from him on the ice? His professionalism, the way he prepares is something that I've noticed from Day One and I try to do things that he does, just to prepare for games and practices."
One of the ways Krug learns is by talking with Chara before every game, discussing tendencies, things to be aware of, sharing what they've gleaned from studying opponents and from Chara's long memory in the NHL.
"He's just been so influential in my career in the way he prepares," Krug said. "I've been very honored that I could sit next to him in the locker room as long as I did in the old TD Garden locker room and just pick up little things here and there."

But building the kind of legacy that Chara has built in Boston -- along with Bergeron and Marchand -- isn't assured for Krug, who can become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Although discussions on a new contract have not progressed since the NHL was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, Krug has maintained that he wants to stay in Boston, where he has played his entire NHL career after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State University in March 2012.
In seven full seasons with the Bruins, Krug scored 337 points (67 goals, 270 assists) in 523 regular-season games, including leading their defensemen with 49 points (nine goals, 40 assists) in 61 games this season.

"There hasn't been any discussion," Krug said. "I was prepared for that, just because of the unknown. No one 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. So I didn't really anticipate anything like that coming out of it."
Krug said he is still hoping that something can be worked out and he's willing to be patient, even if it is difficult, given those unknowns. He initially thought he would have an answer by July 1, but now he does not know when he will get the answer to where he will be playing next season, allowing more time for his mind to wander and ponder the possibilities.
"Obviously very hopeful," Krug said. "As I've said all along, I want to be part of this group and part of this locker room and part of this city. It's become home for us and we love it.
"You heard Fenway bark earlier. We named our dog Fenway. How much more Boston can it get?"