I think your way over rating Krug and severly under rating Grizz.
Krug like it or not is a defensive liability he's terrible in his own end. Man to man coverage is weak he gives up the blue line two easy, his speed is average where he loses races for the puck and his retrieval skill are weak because of that. Not to mention he loses board battles more times than not.
Now if your talking about what he brings to the offense in the offensive zone Ya Krug is good and he brings a lot.
In the Grizz's 22 games hes played. In his own end has been outstanding, and with a young defenseman thats what you want and he passes the grade with a clearcut A. He retrieves the puck as well as anyone and he gets out of his own zone quickly either by his quick acceleration and skating it out of danger or by making a quick move and then a pass on the stick. Two major weapons that you need from your defenseman and Grizz tops Krug easily. Grizz has also been very good with board battles winning more than his fair share.
Offensively Grizz is no slouch either he's smart enough to get the puck through to the net or chip it into the corner when needs be and he diffidently has the wheels where he can join the play and still be able to get back and help out defensively. His passes are tape to tape on top of that.
He's no flash in the pan his skating and Hockey IQ are way above par for that to be the case.
I appreciate you explaining your point of view an opinion in detail, a lot of posters just throw out the premise of trading Krug and that he stinks but offer very little substance as to why they think that way.
But I will still disagree with the premise. Many of the points you make about Krug are accurate, especially when he isn't playing well those flaws in his game are more apparent. But I think the positives he brings to the table far outweigh the negatives that you pointed out in his game. I am a believer that you can cover for a lot of a players flaws with simply the correct partner and some chemistry. Krug isn't so atrocious in his own end that his partner isn't able to help cover up some of his risks as he tries to make a play, and allow Krug to do more of what he does well. In my opinion, Krug played a lot better with McQuaid or Miller as his partner, as these players know each other and have been paired for most of his careers. Krug and Carlo haven't been able to develop that same chemistry and both have looked bad in some very noticeable players.
Now I am not saying the correct move is benching Carlo for McQuaid, but I don't think it's a coincidence that Krug hasn't looked quite the same moved away from Miller or McQuaid. You could also attributes some of Grizz's solid play to having a complementary partner like Miller to allow him to do what he does well. He's still been impressive, but plenty of rookies go through hills and valleys and putting him in a higher spot in the lineup doesn't guarantee he'll deliver the same results.
And my biggest gripe with the Krug detractors is they fail to address how they would replace the very important production he brings to the lineup. 45+ points from the backend and on the powerplay isn't easy production to replace, and I'm not sure any of our LHD prospects have the offensive accuman that Torey Krug brings to the table. Even Grizz, for as solid as he has looked only put up 32 points in the AHL last year so it would be a big leap to say he's ready to assume Krug's powerplay responsibility.
Krug hasn't played well in this recent stretch, either offensively or defensively so it's understandable that people would become dissatisfied with him and look for a move to add a more balanced, defensive player into the top-4. But I think none of the players mentioned as replacements (Scandella, Edler ect) would add as much to the team as a Krug when he is on his game. Add that into his strong character and leadership (yes, I think Krug is a huge part of the chemistry this team has gained) and I think trading him would have a Johnny Boychuk type effect on the locker-room.
Just my opinion though, I know many will disagree.
