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Diving into Torey Krug’s importance to the Bruins’ power play

March 21, 2019, 7:56 PM ET [14 Comments]
Anthony Travalgia
Boston Bruins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
For what Torey Krug is as a defenseman, and what he brings to the table, he’s not built for a top-four role. But due to a lack of better options during his tenure as a Bruin, Krug has been forced into the role.

That’s not his fault.

But that doesn’t stop fans and media from often bashing Krug, with his defensive skills taking the brunt of the abuse.

I have no issues with the Bruins defensemen as a group, but relying on Krug for top-four minutes is not the best of options. As we saw in the Bruins playoff series with the Maple Leafs and the Lightning last season, Krug’s defensive issues were exposed and too often it came back to haunt them.

Playing primarily with Kevan Miller in the playoffs, Krug and Miller had a minus-five goals for rating in 91:12 of ice time together. Krug finished the playoffs last season fourth among Bruins defensemen averaging 16:46 of 5v5 time on ice.

But put Krug in a more appropriate role for his skillset, and I think it would be a different view of Krug and his game.

Krug’s perfect role is as a team’s top power play quarterback, and a spot on the team’s third defensive pairing.

Where Krug comes up short defensively, he more than enough makes up for it on the offensive side of things.

More specifically on the power play.

Since the 2013-14 season, —Krug’s first full season in the NHL— only Keith Yandle, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and John Carlson have more power play points among defensemen than Krug does.



Digging deeper into how involved the top five power play defensemen are in their respective team’s power play reveals some interesting numbers.

Entering Wednesday’s games, the Bruins have scored 59 power play goals, Krug has been on the ice for 39 of those, or 66.1%.











Krug’s 66.1% is third among the defensemen this season.

How insane is John Carlson? The power play staple has been on the ice for 93.6% of the Capitals power play goals this season.

In each season after his first full rookie campaign, Krug improved his PPG on ice for percentage until last season where he saw a 2.9% dip in production. That dip may have been due to injuries causing Krug to miss six games. Krug has had another dip in production this season, now missing a career-high 14 games entering Wednesday.

Over the course of his five-plus seasons in the league, the Bruins power play has been more effective with Krug in the lineup than it has without.





The 1.6% difference in power play percentage without Krug in the lineup doesn’t seem like a big difference, but when you break it down this way, it tells a different story.

If the Bruins had a power play success rate of 22.1%—the success rate with Krug in the lineup this season—they’d have the league’s 8th ranked power play. But if the Bruins had a power play success rate of 20.5%—the success rate without Krug in the lineup this season—they would be tied for 14th in the league.



Since the 2013-14 season, Krug leads all Bruins in power play points, and is just one of two Bruins with over 100 power play points in that span.

The other? Obviously it’s Patrice Bergeron.



I cringe when people use the argument of how the development of Matt Grzelcyk makes trading Krug that much easier as the Bruins have Krug’s replacement waiting in the wings.

Grzelcyk’s improvement from last year has been huge for the Bruins, and Grzelcyk is developing very nicely. Grzelcyk was even playing on the Bruins top d-pair earlier this season when the team was battling through some injuries in the backend. But offensively, Grzelcyk doesn’t come close to what Krug can do.



What impresses me the most about Krug when the puck is on his stick is his vision, and how easily he gets pucks through tight spots. It’s a skill that can’t be taught.

Sure, Krug’s 5v5 numbers are not ideal for a defenseman that has the offensive skill Krug does.

Krug’s 10 5v5 assists sits 107th among defensemen, but when you break it down by rates/60, Krug’s 5v5 numbers are not as alarming.

Among defensemen who have at least the 958 minutes played that Krug has, he ranks 63rd in 5v5 assists/60, 39th in 5v5 primary assists/60 and 66th in 5v5 points/60.

For a team that has had issues the last two seasons at times with secondary scoring, you may want to think twice when it comes to moving on from one of the game’s best power play defensemen.

Krug sits third among defensemen this season with 29 power play points.
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