Trade protection on contracts allows players to decide where and if they will be traded and over the summer Torey Krug used his trade protection to block a trade to the Philadelphia Flyers. Krug will return to the St. Louis Blues, whether they want him or not. At camp Krug recently took the time to comment on invoking his no-trade clause this offseason to prevent a trade that would have completely reshaped the Blues backend.
After a disappointing season last year, General Manager Doug Armstrong attempted to re-tool the team. Armstrong attempted to focus on younger players, with an eye for the future. Unfortunately for Krug, at 32, and with 4 years remaining on his contract that pays $6.5M annually, he doesn't fit the Blues' current needs.
Last season, the Blues traded many of their core players including captain Ryan O'Reilly, longtime scorer Vladimir Tarasenko, and depth players like Noel Acciari and Ivan Barbashev. If they look to continue that trend, they'll undoubtedly look to trade Krug again, perhaps to a better team than the Flyers, where he might accept a trade.
