“I’m hoping and he’s hoping I’m wrong, and he’s pushing, but the surgery that he had, it was very, very invasive.” Krug, who spent the first nine seasons of his NHL career with the Bruins before signing in free agency with St. Louis in 2020 , said his ankle had been a lingering issue for years before the surgery. Speaking ahead of training camp in September , Krug said he first suffered the injury while playing in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs with Boston, with surgery standing as the only remedy before lifelong complications would come into play. He was initially diagnosed with “pre-arthritic changes” in his left ankle in July 2024. “I fractured my ankle six years ago now in the playoffs when I was with Boston. Over the last few years, it’s starting to get worse and worse,” Krug told reporters. “I’ve been able to manage it for so long now. Last year was definitely tough, trying to manage the pain level. This summer, I wasn’t really able to do the things I needed to do to prepare for the NHL season, a lot of pain and stuff.” If Krug can’t return, he will likely spend the last two seasons of his seven-year, $45.5 million contract on long-term injured reserve. Krug was a dynamic playmaker for the Bruins from 2011-20, appearing in 523 games and scoring 67 goals with 270 assists. The 34-year-old defenseman played a key role in Boston’s last two runs to a Stanley Cup Final. The 5-foot-9-inch Krug provided a spark in his first taste of the postseason in 2013. He scored four goals and recording six points over 15 playoff games that year. He was a menace in the Bruins’ second-round series against the Rangers during that playoff push, scoring four goals over five games. Krug was arguably Boston’s most impactful defenseman during its 2019 Cup Final run, scoring 18 points (12 on the power play) over 24 games. Had the Bruins defeated the Blues in the Stanley Cup Final that spring, the clip of a helmet-less Krug trucking Robert Thomas in Game 1 might have been the defining moment from that postseason. Krug’s 337 points rank fifth all time among Bruins defensemen — trailing Ray Bourque, Bobby Orr, Zdeno Chara, and Brad Park. The former undrafted free agent out of Michigan State is also the Bruins’ all-time leading scorer among American skaters.
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