Nashville lands Torey Krug from Detroit

The Nashville Predators made one deal at the trade deadline, in which they shipped prospects Brock Boeser and Madison Bowey to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Torey Krug. As the deadline passed, the media were invited to a press conference at the Bridgestone Arena where the Predators had just returned from a road trip and are set to embark on a 3 game homestand. Eric Wolf was made available for questions in regards to the Krug acquisition and the team moving forward. 

Media: In acquiring Torey Krug, what made you target him at the deadline and what do you think he will bring to the team?

Wolf: Bringing in a defenseman that is capable of being a #1 defenseman was at the top of our agenda. Since the very beginning of the EHE we've severely lacked an offensive defenseman that can push the play, who skates fast, and can feed pucks to our offense at a ridiculous rate. I've been a big fan of Krug for some time, and he was at the very top of my list for players to go after and we are very thrilled to be able to bring him to the Predators organization. Me and our staff have spent the past month or so scouting every EHE team, and our scouts and I both kept coming back to Krug. So I made the phonecall to Detroit and it went from there.

Media: Were there any other defensemen or players you were targeting before the deadline? Any other deals in the works?

Wolf: We had some pretty good dialogue between 3-4 other teams for a defenseman, but ultimately Krug was at the top of our list. It's very tough to trade prospects like Boeser and Bowey, but we don't feel like we are just trading away our youth here. Krug is not a rental, he is a core piece of our franchise now, our leader on the blueline. Krug is still only 25 years old and he's an RFA at the end of his deal. If Krug was a pending UFA at the end of his deal, we wouldn't of pulled the trigger on this. I've said countless times that we want to build from within. But we needed a defenseman of Krugs calibre because we owe it to the team. And with the expansion draft looming, we also took it into consideration where we said to ourselves we need a defenseman to make better use of the 3 defense protection slots. So we felt it was the right time to get a #1 defenseman. I don't trade prospects unless it's an unusual circumstance, and this was one of those times.

Media: When you say you owe it to the team, what do you mean by that? 

Wolf: Our team has played very well this season. Since our Okposo acquisition earlier in the season, it really sparked the offense on our top line. Crosby was struggling before we brought in Okposo and now Crosby has been on fire ever since. Our team as a whole has been playing more confidentely. I believe we have good depth up front, but we didn't have a puck moving defenseman on the blueline. That is something that's always bugged me, that we didn't have a player capable of creating a lot of plays, and quarterbacking our PP. Krug is a very shifty and offensively gifted defenseman who I think brings an element to our blueline that we've been missing. I owe it to the team because this team has fought hard to get into the thick of the playoff race this year, and I wanted to bring in a guy like Krug who can help push them to another level.

Media: In Jay Seo's article of 'Winners and the Losers' of the trade deadline, he had ranked you a 'loser'? How do you take this critisism. 

Wolf: Hmm. That's weird. I had to scroll down the league standings for quite awhile until I found the Jay's Kings in the standings. Jay's made 19 trades in 2 months, my 14 year old brother doesn't even make that many trades in be a GM mode on NHL 17. Jay either does a lot of cocaine in his office and makes tons of deals or he isn't confident enough in the team he keeps re-assembling. I feel bad for all the players on the Kings, always being on edge as their GM has a revolving door on the front entrance of the staples center. As for Nashville, and my team; we're building a dynasty here, not a contender over night. I am not going to clear out the cupboards and trade our youth for a playoff run and still get bounced in the 2nd round. Kuemper may not be seen as a #1 goalie but he has played extremely well. Kuemper boasts a .920 % right now, better numbers than Colorado's goalie Varlamov, and Colorado sits 20 points ahead of us in the standings. 

Media: With all of that said, Nashville has a comfortable 17 pt cushion of a playoff spot. It's quite likely the Predators are en-route to their first playoff berth. How's the feeling like in the locker room right now?

Wolf: I'm quite excited for the opportunity to clinch our 1st playoff spot. It's great for the fans, and I am excited to have playoff hockey in Nashville for our fans. It's exciting to finally see my plan slowly come to fruition. I believe the success we are seeing this year is only just the beginning, cause we're not done growing. We have a great prospect pool developing, and once the expansion draft is over I can address the other holes here and there I would like to fix. So I hope we make the playoffs, but I know there is another level I can get this team at, but this year isn't exactly the year. I believe we can do some damage in the playoffs, and I hope we go far, and who knows we may even surprise everybody.