According to Frank Seravalli, Chris Kreider is close to heading out west to play for the Ducks. Rangers’ beat writer Vince Mercogliano is reporting that the trade framework is a prospect and a pick coming back to New York, with Anaheim taking Kreider’s full $6.5M AAV for this year and next. Kreider, who has a 15-team no-trade clause, was explicitly named in the trade availability memo sent to the GMs last year by New York Chris Drury.
If this is the end for Kreider, he goes out towards the top of the leaderboard in several goal-scoring categories for the Blueshirts. He ended the 2023-24 season as a hero after his third-period hat trick to defeat the Hurricanes in the second round of the playoffs. But injuries, especially, coupled with ineffectiveness, resulted in a poor 2024-25 campaign for CK20. At one point, many felt that Kreider would be the next captain of the team. The memo, along with communication issues hinted at by Kreider in his end-of-season locker cleanout out made it very apparent that he would be on his way out of town this offseason.
Anaheim has a first, a second, two thirds, and a fourth round pick at the top of this year’s draft. I would expect somewhere between the second and fourth if a trade for Kreider goes down. In terms of the prospect, Sam Colangelo or Nathan Gaucher likely tops the list of the prospects that come back. The pipe dream of Trevor Zegras, who is from the east coast, or one of the Ducks’ young blueliners (Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger, or Tristan Luneau (the latter being a possibility), as Jackson LaCombe clearly is going nowhere) appears to be just that, a pipe dream. Longer shots would be Sasha Pastujov or Stian Solberg. Freezing up $6.5 mil in cap from would give the Blueshirts approximately $15 mil in room. (Per Seravalli, discussions centered on Carey Terrance, an upstate New York native and 2023 second-round pick. Terrance’s output declined in the last few seasons, and he is far from one of the team’s top prospects. The return is so-so, but for Drury and New York, freeing up the $6.5 million in cap space is clearly paramount.
If Kreider is dealt, fare thee well, as he is one of my favorite players on the team and someone who could have his jersey in the rafters at MSG when he retires. His absence leaves a hole at left wing. Plus, that breaks up the glimmer twins of Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, the latter possibly on the block as well. Anaheim gets a veteran presence, which they sorely need, and bet on a rebound from a healthy Kreider.
Rangers moving on from Chris. They are no getting much for Chris, but moving 6.5 million is huge.
Depends on how Drury uses that cap room.
Capspace is huge, but still a risky move for the Ducks.