The St. Louis Blues signed Torey Krug after the departure of former captain Alex Pietrangelo, and after Justin Faulk had a somewhat disappointing first campaign wearing the Blue Note. At the time those two factors created a large hole back at the point. Krug was a good fit then, and to a degree he still is. But with Faulk having rebounded quite well and some intriguing options in the Blues pipeline, coupled with a tricky salary cap situation now may be the time to shop him.
This isn't a knock on the man or his production. He is 31 years old and he hasn't yet seen his production begin to decline in any significant way. He was for the most part on par with career averages last season, recording 43 points in 64 games. He is and will continue to be a feisty, well rounded, puck moving defenseman. A salary cap hit of 6.5 million for a blue-liner with his level of consistency isn't a bad contract either, but as previously mentioned, the Blues are in a tight spot.
Enter Scott Perunovich. Many fans will be quick to point out the small sample size from him last season, and rightfully so. Statistically he was ok but with only 19 games under his belt it's hard to judge the numbers. But anyone who actually watched those 19 games would have easily noticed the similarity between him and Krug. Close in stature and style of play. He handled the puck confidently and quarter backed the power play in his limited opportunities as efficiently as anyone could ask for. And while he does not yet have the NHL numbers, in his final year in college he scored 40 points in 30 games. And when he wasn't with the Blues last season he tallied 22 points in 17 games at the AHL level. His current cap hit, 750,000.
Now that the Tkachuk sweepstakes have been awarded I certainly don't believe Krug will be moved before the season. And predicting trade deadline moves for a season that hasn't yet begun is a fools errand. But it would not be a major shock to me if he is shopped to other teams at the deadline, assuming the Blues aren't battered by injuries and Perunovich is comfortable with a larger role. Because while they do have a strong roster, the Blues will absolutely have to do something to create significant cap flexibility, and the sooner the better.
