Krug addresses not waiving no-trade clause, committed to being solution with Blues

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Make no bones about Torey Krug's intentions.

The defenseman wants to be a part of the St. Louis Blues and part of the solution to right last season's wrong, not to spite anyone.

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That's the message the 32-year-old wants Blues fans to understand after he addressed his situation of three months ago for the first time when he nixed a trade to the Philadelphia Flyers as part of a bigger package that ultimately landed the Blues center Kevin Hayes.

Krug, who is nursing a lower-body injury but has been skating daily, had his reasons for not waiving his no-trade, most notably for family reasons. His wife, delivered the couple's third child -- all under the age of four, their desire to live in St. Louis, his closeness with teammates and of course, at 32, not wanting to join a club in a complete rebuild.

The common denominator in it all, Krug wants to be a Blue because he thinks they can win now.

"I really don't want to harp on it for too long," Krug said Tuesday. "I chose to stay here. I think I want to be a part of this room, love playing for this city and wearing the Bluenote. It's something I'm very excited about. Obviously you don't like hearing things like that. I have kids, I have a family, a lot of things to think about, but at the end of the day, like I said, I want to be here and wear the Note. We have a great locker room here, a great feeling in the room this year. I think we can turn it around quick.

"... We have a great locker room. I feel like, if you go around and take a poll around the room, I hope I'm a big part of that room. I enjoy working and being a part of it. We had a pretty crappy year last year. When you don't win, anything's up for grabs and anything goes. That's the business part of hockey. If you want to be a part of the solution, you put your foot down and you try to do your job."

Nonetheless, it had to be tough to hear the Blues were looking to move Krug and the remaining four years of his seven-year, $45.5 million contract ($6.5 million average annual value) out of St. Louis.

The Blues are coming off a disappointing season, one in which saw them on the outside looking in the Western Conference when it came to the playoffs at 37-38-7, good for 81 points after 109 points in 2021-22. So it was inevitable that change would come, and general manager Doug Armstrong was searching for some sort of change.

The Blues have four veterans (Krug, Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk and Nick Leddy) all currently playing under full no-trade clauses. When these contracts are negotiated, more times than not, a player will not be asked to waive it. The Blues apparently had a deal in place that would have had them acquire Hayes and defenseman Travis Sanheim for a package that included Krug and a first-round pick in this year's draft.

Krug made sure it didn't go down that way, and it was his right to do so.

"I don't want to dwell on this for too long, but I'm here to play hockey," Krug said. "I signed up to be on St. Louis for seven years and that's what I want to do. When you hear stuff like that, there's obviously more stuff to it than what goes on the ice rink on the surface. But you have kids, your family, your living situation, picking up your family to move, things like that. At the end of the day, I want to be here. That's all I can really say about that."

Blues captain Brayden Schenn agreed.

"We’re his teammates and you treat him like one," Schenn said. "He got the no-trade clause when he signed his deal here and (he had) the right to say that. That was between him and Doug and his agent [Lewis Gross]. We’re happy to have 'Kruger' back. He’s an unbelievable teammate. He’s a heck of a player, a guy that has some fire in his belly this year and wants to prove people wrong, so we’re happy to have him back on our side."

In the hours and days after the news broke, it may not have seemed that way. Krug had removed all Blues-themed stuff off his 'X' and Instagram accounts and rightfully was upset to be cast off the island by the organization at the time.

It definitely took some time away from it all to process what transpired and to begin the process of mending wounds.

"Yes and no. I'm human," Krug said. "There's stress that comes with everybody's work and that's part of it for me. Accepting some of the things that have gone wrong and gone poorly, realizing what you have to do to get better and put things in the past and move on, that's part of the job. First and foremost, I'm a person. You feel a certain way and then you've got to park it and move on.

"... I've seen everything in hockey, just about everything you can think of. If you know anything about me or my history, you know I'm going to show up and go to work every day. I think my teammates understand that and expect that as well. We push each other to try and win hockey games. That's my job. I signed up for it. You also sign up for the negative things if things don't go well, and that's part of the job. Now it's just about going to work and looking forward and everything's in the rear view mirror."

Who could blame Krug if there was some sort of resentment towards Armstrong? After all, this was the decision-maker in trying to determine his fate. But being a professional, time heals wounds, and it's best in Krug's situation to move on.

"I have a great relationship with Doug," Krug said. "I think very highly of him and he's one of the reasons I chose to come to St. Louis with his winning history and his past. We've worked together to move on and move forward. I'm sure he expects me to be a professional, pull on my end of the rope and be a part of this room. I have a good relationship with Doug and that's not going to change."

Like many of the other veterans, Krug arrived to train early and was welcomed by his teammates with open arms.

"Absolutely. He didn’t want to go to another organization or team where he felt had a less chance to win, put it that way," Schenn said. "Obviously Philly is kind of going through their rebuild stage and we feel we can be competitive here. We’ve got good pieces in the locker room and he wanted to be a part of it. Like I said, that’s part of the business. He’s not the first guy to ever get his no-trade (clause) asked and he won’t be the last. But at the same time, he earned his right to say ‘no,’ which he did. Honestly, we’re lucky to have him. He’s a top power-play defenseman in the league, he’s a great teammate and we’re happy he’s on our side."

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That open line of communication extended to coach Craig Berube.

"Oh yeah, we had conversations with him a while ago, and I think kept him up, just seeing where he’s at," Berube said. "He seems to be in a great spot and ready to come in and play good hockey for us. I think it started a while back, just conversations with him and just see where he was at mentally and what he was thinking. But he’s a good pro. I mean, he’s a competitive guy and he’s a real good pro. He wants to play here obviously and he likes it here, he likes the team and I think he’s in a good spot.

"... When we signed him to begin with, we knew how competitive he was. That was a big part of it all."

Krug, who's had a bit of an injury history in all three of his previous seasons here, is now ready to turn the page. Patrick Marleau was another in recent years to come to mind that also exercised his right not to waive, and it panned out fine with the San Jose Sharks. Krug hopes it works out the same way in St. Louis, whether the fans agree with his decision or not.

"No. I understand," Krug said. "Like I said, if you don't do your job, then people want change, whether it's your boss or it's fans. That's part of the gig. From an individual standpoint, I want to do what's best for my career and I think what was best for my career is to stay in St. Louis and to win hockey games. I take a lot of pride in wearing this jersey. It's a great history here, the fans are awesome. It's a fun jersey to wear and play for. I really didn't think about that too much to be honest. I'm here to make decisions for my career and for my family and ultimately what's best for this team as well."