Cam Neely Believes Torey Krug Has Been ‘Big Part’ Of Bruins’ Recent Success

Torey Krug had a memorable year with the Boston Bruins, and even more memorable Stanley Cup playoff run.

The defenseman finished up his third straight 50-plus point season with the Black and Gold and remained healthy throughout Boston’s Stanley Cup appearance — something he struggled to do over the last five seasons.

Krug also made his mark when he laid a monstrous hit on St. Louis Blues forward Robert Thomas in Game 1, which earned him high praise from head coach Bruce Cassidy. And while the 28-year-old has dealt with injuries, team president Cam Neely believes Krug was a “big part” of Boston’s recent success.

“With Torey he’s one of the top PP defensemen in the league and our power play has been pretty damn good, and has won a lot of games for us. (Matt) Grzelcyk is coming along, but I don’t know if he sees the ice the way that Torey does,” Neely said in an interview with NBC Sports Boston. “And Charlie (McAvoy) just hasn’t shown that he’s a No. 1 power play defenseman just yet. Maybe some of that is just opportunity that hasn’t been there yet because of the way Torey handles the first unit. Torey has been a big part of our success the past few years.”

Certainly some high praise.

Krug can become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season. And even though the team has other defensemen contracts to think about (Brandon Carlo, McAvoy), locking Krug up long-term certainly could be beneficial moving forward.