Last season for the New York Rangers was a complete disappointment. They went from being a Stanley Cup contender to completely missing the playoffs. The Rangers have already been making changes in the past few months, and a few days ago, the franchise decided to make yet another trade. This one hurts the fans as they traded a long-tenured player on this team. Chris Kreider is no longer a New York Ranger as he has been traded to the Anaheim Ducks.
New York Rangers Acquire: C Carey Terrance and a 2025 Third-Round Pick
Anaheim Ducks Acquire: LW Chris Kreider and a 2025 Fourth-Round Pick
*There is no retention in salary, so Anaheim will take on Kreider’s entire contract.
It wasn’t a question of if, but when Chris Kreider would be moved this offseason. His name was constantly mentioned on the trading block during the trade deadline, and it’s clear his relationship with the organization kept souring. With how disappointing the season was, GM Chris Drury had to make a move. The Rangers needed to restructure the team’s chemistry and wanted to free up cap space for the offseason. Trading Kreider frees up 6.5 million in cap space, and they didn’t have to retain salary for the deal to go through.
Chris Drury wanted to free up some money and move off a veteran player on the decline. Well, mission accomplished for Mr. Drury. The salary dump is great, and getting a pick upgrade is solid, but the most intriguing part is acquiring Carey Terrance via trade. Terrance wasn’t a top prospect in Anaheim’s prospect pool, but he is such an intriguing player. While he did have an injury last season, he has a ton of potential for the future and could be a nice piece on the Rangers’ penalty kill if he develops well.
The moment the Anaheim Ducks acquired Jacob Trouba via trade, it was only a matter of time until Kreider was going to get traded there. However, making this type of trade can be summed up in one word: “gamble”. Especially with his injury issues being 34 years old, and showing signs of regression, this type of deal could backfire for the Ducks. However, he could provide a veteran influence for the young talent on that roster. It’s not a long-term addition, but he could be useful for the Ducks.
As for gaining 6.5 million in cap space, it’s a bit of a surprise they couldn’t get any salary retained in the deal. Luckily for the Ducks, they still have around 32 million dollars in cap space left, so it’s not a tremendous issue. Losing Carey Terrance kind of sucks as he still had tremendous upside, but the Ducks have plenty of good prospects in their system.
New York Rangers: A
Anaheim Ducks: B-
Love this deal for the New York Rangers. They get some cap space, a young prospect in their pool, and move on from an aging player with injury issues. It’s better they got something from Kreider as the longer he remained a Ranger, the less value he would have had.
As for Anaheim, it kind of makes sense for them to acquire Kreider, but this move is more of a gamble. Giving up Terrance who still has the potential for a declining Chris Kreider is a risk. Could it pan out? Maybe, but there is a bigger risk of this failing. No matter what though it is a risk that they are willing to take.
It’s a shame I can’t watch Kreider play next year with the Ducks making the disgraceful move of hiring Joel Quenneville as the head coach. You know the man who knew sexual assault was going on when he was the head coach of the Blackhawks in 2010 and did nothing about it. I will never watch another Anaheim Ducks game until that man is no longer the head coach there.
I wish Kreider nothing but the best as he has had so many memorable moments throughout his time as a Ranger, and he absolutely will have his number retired for the Rangers whenever he chooses to retire. It’s going to be weird not seeing Kreider playing with the Rangers.
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