Torey Krug's NHL career may be over

This just in, the St. Louis Blues have announced that defenseman Torey Krug has been diagnosed with pre-arthritic changes in his left ankle and that if surgery is required he'll miss the entirety of the 2024-25 NHL season.

From the Blues:

From the team's official press release announcement:

ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today that defenseman Torey Krug has been diagnosed with pre-arthritic changes in his left ankle. 

The injury is a cumulative result of a bone fracture suffered earlier in his playing career. 

Krug will work to rehabilitate the injury through non-surgical interventions over the course of the next 6-8 weeks. After that time, he will be re-evaluated to determine whether surgery will be necessary.

Krug is officially considered to be out indefinitely and if surgery is required, he will be unavailable for the entirety of the 2024-25 season.

Krug, 33, was originally signed by the Blues as a free agent on Oct. 9, 2020.

Last season, the Livonia, Michigan, native dressed in 77 regular-season games, posting 39 points (four goals, 35 assists) and 32 penalty minutes.

Across four seasons with the Blues, Krug has recorded 146 points (22 goals, 124 assists) and 154 penalty minutes in 255 regular-season games. 

Overall, he has appeared in 778 career regular-season games, including stints with Boston and St. Louis, totaling 483 points (89 goals, 394 assists) and 374 penalty minutes.

If indeed Krug misses the entire 2024-25 season, you have to be concerned for his NHL future. He's 34 years old and is in year five of a seven year deal that pays him $6.5 million per season. I'm willing to bet that if he does indeed require surgery this offseason, then he'll be moved to Long Term Injury Reserve (LTIR) for the remainder of his contract.

Thoughts, Blues fans?