McAvoy on losing Krug: It f***ing sucks man.“

The Boston Bruins made a tough decision through the 2019 - 2020 National Hockey League regular season when they opted not to negotiate a new deal with veteran defenseman Torey Krug. Krug was clearly due for a significant raise in pay and had played his way into a long term commitment from one team or another, but for one reason or another the Bruins chose not to be that team.

Instead Krug would eventually sign with the St. Louis Blues organization, a team that at the time was all but assured to lose the services of long time defenseman and Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo, and it sounds like not everyone within the Bruins organization is happy about that decision. In a recent interview Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy got emotional when discussing the departure of his now former teammate, and there was no doubt about how he felt regarding Krug going to St. Louis.

"Oh man TK was one of the first people who took me under his wing right away from the moment I got there," admitted McAvoy on the Cam and Strick podcast. "We still work out, he's in Boston in the summers and we work out together every day, but he's just an unbelievable guy. Everybody [in St. Louis] is gonna love him... just a great guy."

It was readily apparent at several points during the interview that McAvoy is still very much in the midst of sorting out his emotions about the departure of Krug.

"I'm still sad that he's not on our team honestly and definitely sucks and definitely doesn't feel right, like showing up to training camp and he's not gonna be there. 

The young blue liner would go on to admit that this was really the first such experience he has had with the ruthless business side of the NHL during his tenure as a member of the Bruins, a team that has mostly managed to keep their core together.

"It's so wild. I'm going through it now cause it's the first time that we've lost a big piece through free agency.... It sucks, it f***ing sucks man." 

At the end of the day McAvoy perfectly summed up the emotion that was being conveyed through his voice by admitting that it was all just a little sad for him.

"As soon as I saw he signed I texted him and we face-timed like an hour after it broke and we just sat on facetime for a little while.... and it was just sad I didn't really know what to say."

I know there are no doubt a ton of fans in Boston who feel the same way, and perhaps they can take some comfort in knowing that they are not alone with those feelings.