Blues' Krug out at least 6 weeks due to injury

St. Louis Blues defenseman Torey Krug will be re-evaluated in six weeks due to a lower-body injury, the club announced Tuesday.

The veteran will be placed on long-term injured reserve, and the Blues recalled blue-liner Tyler Tucker from their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, in a corresponding move.

Krug was quarterbacking St. Louis' power play, which ranked 12th in the NHL entering Tuesday. The 31-year-old has collected 17 points in 31 games this season and was on a four-game point streak in which he posted five assists.

The Michigan-born rearguard is in his third campaign with the Blues after signing a seven-year, $45.5-million contract as a free agent in October 2020. Krug played his first seven full seasons with the Boston Bruins. They signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2012. Krug was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award (the NCAA's top individual honor in men's hockey) that same year.

Krug is one of the most consistent point producers among defensemen. He's registered at least 39 points in eight of his previous nine full campaigns and 49 or more in four of them.

St. Louis was already off to a disappointing start to this campaign. The Blues enter Tuesday's clash with the Toronto Maple Leafs sitting in sixth place in the Central Division by points percentage with a record of 16-16-2. Their minus-19 goal differential ranks eighth-worst, and their 46.87 expected goals for percentage is the ninth-worst mark in the league, according to Natural Stat Trick.