The long-time second line center for the Boston Bruins, David Krejci, has received a lot of unwarranted criticism the past few years. Most of which stems off two topics, him being “injury-prone” & him being “overpaid.” Both of these arguments have serious flaws in them, however. Krejci being “injury-prone” is overstated, as he is actually quite durable. On the subject of trading Krejci, fans often forget that his has a NMC right now which turns into a full-NTC starting next year. Krejci accounts for $7.25m on the cap, and while thats a lot, it really isn't that much of an overpayment.

Here are some notes on what some followers and members of internet boards have suggested:

Trade Krejci to Montreal because they need a center.

Trade Krejci plus more to Colorado for Duchene.

Trade Krejci to Carolina for Noah Hanifin or another young defender.

Now, let us begin shutting own these alleged trade destinations for Krejci:

Krejci won't go anywhere unless he agrees to do so. He has a NMC right now that goes into a full-NTC next year.

Montreal isn't a fit because the return wouldn't be worth while, and it definitely wouldn't soften the blow of losing Krejci.

Montreal just acquired Drouin for the sake of making him a 1C, so why would they want to sell what's left of the farm for another C?

Krejci doesn't even fit the build of what Montreal is trying to do at the center position. He's over 30-years old, whereas Drouin is only 22-years old. He is there to be the present & future 1C while Poehling projects to be a 1/2C and is only 18-years old currently. So no, Montreal wouldn't overpay for Krejci.

Montreal also just traded their best prospect, Sergachev, so they don't have anything adequate to offer the Bruins besides potential draft picks.

Colorado, despite needing to move Matt Duchene, would have almost no reason to accept a trade that involves both of these centers.

If Sakic were to move Duchene to Boston, he would want McAvoy or Carlo as a starting point, not David Krejci. Adding a 31-year old center and subtracting a 26-year old center makes zero sense for Sakic.

While I admit, logically a potential trade between Carolina and Boston could work, it simply doesn't make sense at this point in time. If the Bruins shed a 2C for a defender, they wont be able to replace him in the lineup after he is sent to Carolina. W saw early in the season what the lack of NHL-ready center depth looked like and it wasn't pretty.

The only teams that would be interested in Krejci are lacking what the Bruins would need in return, which is a viable center. Hence why they would want to acquire Krejci in the first place.

Now that we addressed the “trade Krejci” crowd, shall we look at the overstated injury record off David Krejci? Besides the 14’-15' NHL season, Krejci has never missed more than 10 games in a season due to injury, with 10 being the most he's missed. He played in every single game last season. All 82.

Since 2008, here are his game played totals:

82 - 0 missed games

79 - 3 missed games

75 - 7 missed games

79 - 3 missed games

47 - 1 missed game

80 - 2 missed games

47 - 35 missed games

72 - 10 missed games

82 - 0 missed games

In these seasons, except for the 14'-15' year, he's averaged JUST 3 games missed per year. That's an 8 year sample size. Including a full 82 game season last year and 72 games before that. The assessment of him being so injury-prone is off-base and nitpicking at him as a player because of how much he makes. He's gives you 70 games, at least, every season.

Would you like to talk numbers, now? Ok, good, because I do.

Krejci has been such a productive player for the Bruins that him having 50-59 points is actually an anomaly. Having 60 points or more in an NHL season is actually common for DK46.

He’s had FIVE seasons with 60+ points.

He's had only TWO seasons in the 50-59 point range. (52 & 54) (His 54 points last year came with the revolving-door on his left wing)

Ready for this? The lockout season in which he played 47 games yielded 33 points. Those 33 points almost exactly equate to a 60 point pace over the course of an 82 game season.

So, if that production right there isn't worth what he was paid, I don't know what is. Factor in how dominate he is in the playoffs and there's even more justification. Krejci was the go-to guy for a while here and people forget just how good he was last year with virtually zero left wing.

He's off to a strong start this season and in my opinion has been one of the most reliable, and best players so far this season. He finally has youth and top-6 NHL talent around him, not Matt Beleskey, Ryan Spooner or sometimes even Tim Schaller like last season.

I understand he is now listed as “week-to-week” with an injury and that is something that will have to watched. Who knows, maybe that will make my argument less-valid, we will see. However, I truly think thats just the Bruins being very cautious with him while not trying to rush him this early in the season. With that being said, to all the level-headed fans who still appreciate Krejci and realize how good of a center he STILL is, feel free to share this post if need be.