Torey Krug makes NHL debut with Bruins

Two weeks ago, Torey Krug was preparing for his first NCAA Tournament appearance with the MSU hockey team. Last night, he made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins, recording two shots in 18:18 of ice time.

Krug signed with the Bruins on March 25, choosing to forgo his senior season for a professional opportunity. He spent the last week and a half practicing with the Bruins and got the call that he'd be in the lineup last night. The Bruins lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3. 

Krug looked a little nervous, but played solid. From the Boston Globe:

"You can see him in the defensive zone trying to think about how to play in our system," said (head coach Claude) Julien. “And sometimes, maybe there was a fraction of a second delay, which is totally normal. But once he had to do it, he went."

His teammates were impressed, too.

"He made some good strong plays at the puck and he took his shots at the net when he had them," (forward Milan) Lucic said. “I definitely see a lot of potential in his game."

According to that Globe story, Krug now gets the NHL money from the first year of his three-year, $2.75-million deal he signed. Per CapGeek, that would be $900,000. I'm not a salary cap-ologist, so I'm not 100 percent sure about that, but it sounds like Krug will make nearly $1 million for playing in at least one game for the Bruins. Because he was signed after the trade deadline and was not on the reserve list, he is not eligible to play in the postseason.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins have two regular season games remaining and are locked into the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.