Huge blow to veteran Chris Kreider in New York

I bet the 2024-25 season is one the New York Rangers will want to forget… Larry Brooks of the New York Post makes the whole thing even sadder when writing about veteran forward Chris Kreider, whom he believes will deal with a sad ending to his 13 NHL seasons with the Rangers.

It was also a tough season for the veteran player, whose production has diminished in 20 goals and five assists in 63 games, but also his health has taken a toll. He’s missed time with a nagging lower-back injury, but it got worse when he landed on the trade block as a leaked memo surfaced in November that general manager Chris Drury was trying to move him, naming Kreider as a trade candidate.

Brooks, who believes Kreider’s production and publicly stated lower-back issues likely hurt his trade value, thinks the veteran forward could get interest from more suitors in the summer. I mean, if you look at his production over the previous three seasons, maybe a fresh start elsewhere is the perfect remedy.

Kreider has two years remaining on his contract with an average annual value of $6.5 million and could possibly fetch fair value back in a trade. However, who knows if the blow of this campaign will carry over into the offseason and if the Rangers will be willing to accept a lesser return, retain salary in the deal, or both.

In New York, especially with what fans have seen GM Drury already do this season, room will have to be made on the cap space to re-sign restricted free agents K’Andre Miller and Will Cuylle.

The Rangers could also choose to buy out Kreider’s contract, which would be another blow to the veteran forward, but unfortunately for New York, it would not provide as much cap relief as a trade. The Blue Shirts would face a cap hit of $3 million next season and $4 million in 2026-27, dropping to $1.5 million for each of the remaining two years.

At this point, we do not know what the Rangers have in mind for Kreider. But you just feel the happy ending is not coming for the veteran player.