The St. Louis Blues could be without one of their top defencemen next season.
The Blues announced Tuesday that Torey Krug has been diagnosed with pre-arthritic changes in his left ankle.
The injury stems from a prior bone fracture Krug suffered earlier in his career.
The 33-year-old will attempt to rehab his injury for the next six to eight weeks before deciding if surgery is necessary. If Krug needs to have surgery, he will be unavailable for the entire 2024-25 season.
Krug joined St. Louis in October of 2020 as a free agent on a seven-year deal worth $6.5 million per season. If the Royal Oak, Mich., native is forced to miss the season, it could provide the Blues with cap space to consider other moves.
During his four seasons with the Blues, Krug has recorded 146 points and 154 penalty minutes in 255 regular-season games. In 778 career regular season games, Krug has 483 points.
He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Bruins in 2012.