Bruins to trade star player in order to keep Krug

The Boston Bruins have quite financial puzzle on their table. Along with a long list of pending free agents looking to re-sign in Bean Town. On their list of restricted free agents are Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, Danton Heinen, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Ryan Fitzgerald, Gemel Smith, and Peter Cehlarik, there is a slew of unrestricted free agents which includes Marcus Johansson, Noel Acciari, Steven Kampfer, Zane McIntyre, Lee Stempniak, Jordan Szwarz, and Mark McNeill.

With the salary cap only been bumped up to $81.5 million for the 2019-20 season, the Bruins have roughly $12.8 million in cap space to work with.

And let’s not forget about their desire to re-sign defenseman Torey Krug quickly, which means trades will need to take place to create the necessary cap space. The Bruins will also focus on keeping McAvoy and Carlo, both of whom will soak up a good majority of that space. 

So, sacrifices will need to be made. 

NHL rumour expert Lyle Richardson of Spectors Hockey believe David Krejci will be sacrificed to make room for Krug’s contract. For long, Krejci was considered to be the team’s first-line center, but has since dropped down to the second line. With a cap hit at $7.25 million, he is the most expensive player for the Bruins, despite having stars like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak on the roster.

But we can’t deny that he has played a huge role for the Bruins since he was drafted back in 2004 and helped the team to a Stanley Cup title in 2011. However, the veteran is quite injury-prone, which could also become an obstacle in trying to move him, along with his heavy price tag. 

There is also another obstacle: Krejci’s no-trade clause where he can now be dealt to 50 percent of the teams in the NHL. But he did experience a revival in 2018-19 and tied a career-high 73 points. 

Will the Bruins choose to sacrifice Krejci to sign Krug at the right price or will they wait until they can find some younger, high-end talent at the center position?