Heart-breaking: Blues confirm another bad news

A  defenseman for the St. Louis Blues, will likely miss the 2024–25 season after undergoing ankle surgery.

Doug Armstrong, president and general manager, revealed the diagnosis on Tuesday. The Blues stated that Krug’s pre-arthritic alterations in his left ankle were the cumulative effect of a bone fracture he sustained earlier in his career. The diagnosis was made earlier this summer.

 

 

At that time, the team announced that he would try to recover from the injury for six to eight weeks before undergoing surgery that would finish the season. When nonsurgical rehabilitation failed to resolve the issue, the decision was taken to have Krug undergo the procedure.

Now 33 years old, Krug first injured his ankle back in 2018 during a preseason game while playing for Boston.

Krug, who was part of the Bruins team that lost the Stanley Cup Final to the Blues in seven games in 2019, signed a seven-year, $45.5 million deal with St. Louis in 2020. The Livonia, Michigan native has since accumulated 151 points across 262 regular-season and playoff games.

Recently, St. Louis strengthened its defense by adding another left-handed shooter, Edmonton’s Philip Broberg, through an offer sheet that the Oilers chose not to match. Broberg, 23, signed a two-year contract worth just over $4.58 million annually. This move will also provide the Blues with salary cap relief on long-term injured reserve this season for Krug’s $6.5 million contract.