Krug shutting all doubters down while pushing into Conn Smythe conversation

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ST LOUIS – Torey Krug entered these Stanley Cup playoffs with plenty of question marks about his game.

Each of his previous two postseasons had been cut short by injuries and there were the age-old questions about the diminutive defenseman, generously listed at 5-foot-9 and 186 pounds, holding his own in the defensive zone when things got nasty. 

Well, Krug has answered all of those questions with a postseason performance that’s pushed him into the Conn Smythe conversation, along with Tuukka Rask, and has the little puck-moving offensive D-man as one of the biggest reasons why the Bruins are sitting just two wins away from a Stanley Cup title.

Certainly, he’s a long way now from the underappreciated defenseman that was strictly labeled a PP specialist and an offensive D-man despite a consistent top-four role, and a willingness to do battle with bigger players in matchups against bigger teams like the Blue Jackets and Blues.

“Well, hopefully not in Boston. [He] certainly is not in our locker room. Never has been,” said Bruce Cassidy when asked if Krug has ever suffered through the underappreciated tag. “When I said that, it was in the context of, ‘He’s [just] an offensive defenseman, he’s [just] a power play specialist.’

“I think people don’t realize how hard he is when he wants to play that physical game. He does play big minutes now lately against good players with [Brandon] Carlo. Torey’s stepped up, and he wanted that responsibility to be a second-pair behind [Zdeno Chara], playing [against] good lines. He’s met the challenge.”

Krug is hot off a team-record four-point game in Boston’s blowout win in Game 3 with a goal and three assists in a Stanley Cup game, something that Bobby Orr was never even able to do in his Hall of Fame career.

Still, it’s been about the entire package for Krug in these playoffs.

He’s got 16 points and is a plus-6 in 20 games in the playoffs and leads all players with his 14 postseason assists. Krug also authored the signature moment in this Stanley Cup Final with his flying hit on Robert Thomas in Game 1 after he’d been mugged by David Perron at the other end of the ice. With all that and more going on for him, it’s no surprise to hear Krug mentioned in the Conn Smythe discussion and to see that he’s come a long way from the rookie D-man just getting his feet under him in the 2013 Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks.

“Last time [in 2013] it was more like this group was dragging me along for the ride. You want to enjoy it and help as much as you can, but this time around it’s a different role being one of the guys with more experience in the room. It’s actually pretty remarkable to think about,” said Krug. “But it’s fun to be a part of this core group and be part of the group that can really push the pedal to the ground setting the tone for the locker room. You just enjoy it and embrace it.”

Obviously, Krug plays a pivotal role on Boston’s vaunted power play unit as the only D-man with four forwards in the top PP formation, and he’s always been a key, versatile figure who forged special chemistry with Perfection Liners Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak. He's stayed healthy and proved he can withstand the physical pounding of a long playoff run while averaging over 20 minutes of ice time per game and he’s shown that he’s not even close to a defensive liability when he’s out there battling the big boys.

It will be interesting to see what that means for Krug and the Bruins as he enters next season the final year of a contract paying him $5.25 million and coming off a postseason for the ages along with three consecutive 50-point seasons on Boston’s back end. Where once Krug might have been looked at as possible trade bait as the B's look for cap space to sign restricted free agents Charlie McAvoy and Carlo, this postseason has not only raised his profile but also locked him as an indispensable member of Boston’s core group that was good enough to get to the Stanley Cup Final.

Krug is so important that his teammate David Pastrnak couldn’t resist needling this humble hockey writer when asked what’s behind Krug playing so well in the Stanley Cup Final.

Pastrnak said “What do you think, Haggs” when asked the question, and then followed by wondering if “anybody still thinks the Bruins are better off with Torey Krug out of the lineup in the playoffs?”

For those that don’t remember, there may or may not have been an article on NBCSportsBoston.com merely posing the question as to whether or not the B’s might be better off defensively in the postseason Krug out of the lineup.

It was more an exercise of asking the question because in the end Krug’s power play and overall value trumps any occasional defensive struggles.

So the answer is ‘no’, Pasta. It’s Krug’s Stanley Cup Final world and we’re all just living in it, and that will become even more apparent if a few more dominant games leads Krug to the front of the Conn Smythe discussion he’s now entered.  

 

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