2 days ago
A modern-day Mr. Ranger, Chris Kreider deserves for jersey to hang in Madison Square Garden
It had to happen. But it can still be sad.
In another timeline, maybe with another franchise, Chris Kreider plays out the final two years of his below-market contract, maybe tacks on another short deal, and then calls it a career. Most likely, he'd end his NHL run as the Rangers' all-time leader in games played and goals, ensuring exactly zero debate about whether No. 20 should hang in the Madison Square Garden rafters — it'd just be a matter of when, not if.
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Rod Gilbert was and always will be Mr. Ranger. But for this generation of fans, no one embodied the heartbeat of the team more than Kreider.
Kreider was a maddening presence at times over his 13 seasons in New York, with a body built for the NHL game, a brilliant mind, and a tendency to not always put the two together on the ice. It took him time to become great instead of filled with potential. And his quirky personality and general aversion to the spotlight made him forever the guy who fans hoped would be named captain but who everyone behind the scenes knew had no shot.
Still Kreider is an all-time Ranger and that is not up for discussion. His trade to the Ducks on Thursday does not diminish 883 regular-season games and 326 regular-season goals. It can't diminish another 123 playoff games, most for any skater in franchise history, and 48 playoff goals, 14 more than any other player.
Any current fan who can name five seminal playoff moments in the last decade-plus would be naming a moment or two or three in which Kreider played a big part. The third-period goal in Game 5 of the second round against the Capitals at MSG in 2015 to kickstart a 3-1 series comeback. The ridiculous slapper from the blue line that found a way in against the Penguins in Game 6 of the first round in 2022. And the third-period natural hat trick in Game 6 of the second round in Raleigh just last spring to save the Rangers from possibly blowing a 3-0 series lead.
There are plenty of other images seared into everyone's minds: the impish, gray-flecked beard; the primal scream after seemingly every one of those goals; the remaking of a power forward and power-play merchant into the league's most dangerous penalty-killer as he aged into his 30s.
And the private moments too, that many never saw: staying on the ice at the practice rink long after his teammates had departed, either to tip pucks or to share some tips with younger players. Maybe Kreider was waiting out us media types, too, but that was secondary.
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A personal moment: My youngest had just finished her first day of kindergarten, and I took her to her favorite diner to celebrate. In walked Kreider a few minutes later. We said hi, my daughter shrunk a bit from a stranger, and when he heard it was her first day of school, he made her feel pretty special. Since then, when there's a hockey game on television, she will occasionally ask if 'Mr. Chris' is playing.
We may have all wanted Kreider to be tougher at times, meaner at times, more consistent at times. But he's been there through arguably the greatest sustained stretch of Rangers hockey in 100 years, reaching five Eastern Conference finals and one Stanley Cup Final. That's not enough, and he was always one of the first to say so, but in the star-crossed history of this franchise, there hasn't been a better decade-plus stretch ever.
And that stretch includes the four-year wander through the lottery wilderness. The 2020 trade deadline was nearly the end of it for Kreider in New York, though then-general manager Jeff Gorton never really had to choose between an enticing offer and a contract extension — a source with the team then said that the best trade the Rangers could have made featured Kreider and the Avalanche's Alex Newhook — and Kreider never wavered on wanting to stay. The seven-year deal worth $6.5 million in average annual value made sense then, especially for a player who was nearing 30 and hadn't yet cracked the 30-goal mark once.
Now, even after the debacle that was the 2024-25 season, $6.5 million for Kreider per year is a steal. His 127 goals in the three-year span of 2021-2024 is seventh in the league. It's this recent stretch that made the Ducks and several other teams interested, even though Kreider is 34 and coming off such a down year, plagued by back and wrist troubles.
His leadership qualities help, too. Anaheim has already taken Jacob Trouba off the Rangers' hands (and Ryan Strome, too, in a way), and Kreider's value with his younger teammates is important. He trains in Connecticut every offseason alongside Trevor Zegras, the Ducks' mercurial young center who has encountered trouble with injuries and self-starting. Kreider could help unlock Zegras if Anaheim decides to keep the younger player.
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As for the Rangers and GM Chris Drury, this is a winning scenario too, despite the sentimental pull of wanting to see Kreider finish his career in New York. Drury remains steadfast in his belief, one that took hold after the 2023-24 playoff run, that the Rangers need a new core. Barclay Goodrow, Trouba, even younger vets such as Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil have been jettisoned in the last 12 months. Kreider may be the first one to go this offseason, but if Drury has his way, he won't be the last.
Anyone beyond Igor Shesterkin, Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin and maybe a few of the young Rangers is available. K'Andre Miller, the restricted-free-agent defenseman who has led the Rangers in even-strength ice time the last three years, could be next out the door. With Kreider's $6.5 million off the books, the Rangers currently have just shy of $15 million in cap space with Will Cuylle, Matt Rempe and Adam Edström still to sign as RFAs. If Drury is set on moving Miller, then whatever's left after locking up those other three young forwards would need to be used on a left-shot defenseman and anyone else to fill the top-nine forward gap.
Alexis Lafrenière, also being shopped though a tough sell with his seven-year deal at $7.45 million just beginning, could move back to left wing for good with Kreider gone. If there were another few moves to free up cap space — Carson Soucy ($3.25 million) perhaps? — maybe the Rangers could make a free-agent play for Brock Boeser to beef up the right side.
Drury has set himself up as well as can be expected, given the failures of last season. If he could persuade Mika Zibanejad, Kreider's BFF with a no-move clause on top of the five years left on his deal, to waive it and go elsewhere, then the Rangers are prepared to completely turn the page on their old core and start almost anew.
It's necessary. It's still sad. Kreider's No. 20 should go to the Garden rafters, whether he stayed or not.
(Photo of Kreider from the 2024 NHL Stadium Series: Brian Babineau / NHLI via Getty Images)
