The St. Louis Blues seemed like they were going to have a big issue on their hands going into the 2024-25 season. They were suddenly flush with left-handed defensemen and seemingly not enough slots for people that might deserve them.
Instead, without even having to make a move, things may have been decided for the team. News broke on July 16 that Torey Krug has a pre-arthritic condition in his ankle, which puts his season in jeopardy.
According to the team, Krug will go through a non-surgical rehab and be reevaluated in 6-8 weeks. That timetable puts him at reevaluation right before the start of preseason. The report went on to say if surgery is required after the 6-8 weeks, Krug will miss the entire 2024-25 season. That is theoretically a big blow - unless it isn't.
The problem with this news is that it confronts fans with two possibilities. First, you have the group that wanted Krug gone anyway, so could get their wish and see what this team might be like without number 47 for an extended time.
The second - this is where you might need your tinfoil hat - is when the team actually knew this. While I believe Doug Armstrong to be an upstanding guy and not one to play at the sports espionage game, I think the timing of this announcement has been delayed.
With no proof other than my own hunch, I believe the team has been aware of Krug's condition for awhile. It just seems to coincidental that you bring in a Ryan Suter on a team-friendly one-year deal and suddenly the log jam at left defense has an answer in the form of a potential injury to a player that might have been on the outside looking in.
The Blues may have known about this injury the entire offseason
Maybe that's why they also signed Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Sure, reuniting him with his brother is a feel-good story, but it makes more sense if you know there is a likelihood one of your own top defensemen has a chance to miss the entire year.
Of course, if we buy into this kind of conspiracy theory, it has to mean that Krug will miss the season and the 6-8 weeks is just your standard stuff to give the media. Even though I believe the team knew about the injury, I'm not sure Armstrong wouldn't just come out and say Krug was out without all the pomp and circumstance of a potential rehab.
Also, we can't go too far into the weeds with this idea. There are those that would go that extra step and say Krug is in on this to get paid to do nothing since there was a chance he might have been a healthy scratch anyway.
Krug is only 33. He likely hopes to have one more contract beyond what he currently has with the Blues. He is not going to go along with a story about a pre-arthritic condition when that could hamper his ability to earn higher money in the future.
So, the condition is real. All we are left to decide is whether the team knew about it or whether they somehow just ended up fortunate to bring in two new defenders when another one could miss the season.
Then again, Krug could rehab and be fine and then we have the glut of defenders again. Time will tell how this plays out, but I think Armstrong knew what was going on and made some preemptive decisions so the team was not caught with their pants down.