After news came out that Torey Krug had signed a seven-year, $45.5 million deal with the St. Louis Blues, many wanted to know how aggressive the Bruins were when it came to keeping the defenseman.
On a conference call with reporters after completing his deal with the Blues, Krug insinuated nothing was remotely close with Boston by the time free agency rolled around.
"There was just no communication. Nothing happened," Krug said.
Asked if the Bruins had made an offer, Krug said, "Yeah, about a year ago."
Appearing on a Zoom call with reporters Saturday afternoon, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney offered the team's perspective on Krug's situation.
"Obviously, I'm not going to talk about other players who are on other teams. In this sense I will leave it in the context of a player and how we do communicate effectively," he said. "I think we take a lot of pride in maintaining that communication. Not agreeing from a contractural standpoint is never disrespecting a player, you just don't find a common ground. The bottom line is we fell short on term. But from a competitive standpoint and what offers were made, we're very comfortable with the position we were in and what we tried to accomplish. In full respect to Torey, or any player, heading to the market and testing the market and finding the value they seem comfortable with, that's their entitlement. The've reached that point and they are able to do that. And the club has to during that period of time have to have plans accordingly, whether it's with that current player or moving forward with a different player."
Sweeney went on to explain that the Bruins are in continuous communication with another key defenseman, Zdeno Chara, although no news on a deal seems imminent.