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In somewhat surprising fashion, the New York Rangers gave veteran Chris Kreider a healthy lead for Monday’s matinee against the New Jersey Devils.
The 33-year-old left winger has scored just one goal and one point in his past eight games, and Rangers’ coaching and management clearly wanted to send a message by scratching Kreider.
“We just need more,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette told reporters after the game.
Peter Laviolette on why the Rangers scratched Chris Kreider: #NYR
“It was just a lineup decision. We just need more.”
— Remy Mastey (@MasteyRemy) December 23, 2024
Kreider sitting out doesn’t help the Rangers or the player at all. And the score clearly suggested the same.
The Devils defeated the Rangers 5-0 to hand the Blueshirts their second straight loss and fifth loss in six games. The Rangers, without their third-highest scorer in Kreider, managed just 12 shots on goal.
New Jersey even mocked the Rangers for trading right winger Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken last week. The Rangers couldn’t get the most out of the 2019 No. 2 draft pick, and they scratched him, were unhappy with him and traded him. The Devils, meanwhile, got three points from No. 1 pick Jack Hughes.
It was just another embarrassing day for the Rangers, and scratching Kreider didn’t help at all.
The main issue in Manhattan isn’t Kreider’s struggles on offense. It’s the team’s problems on offense.
The Rangers scored one goal or less in four of their five games before Monday, scoring just two goals in the fifth game.
This cannot be solely attributed to Kreider, who has never scored fewer than 36 goals in the last three seasons. Kreider currently has 11 goals in 30 games – which ranks second among the Rangers – and somehow the team thinks the Rangers will do better without Kreider.
If this healthy scratch is meant to be a prelude to Kreider getting traded, we’re not sure how you can show Kreider to other teams when he’s in the press box. Wouldn’t it be best to keep Kreider in the lineup, give the Blueshirts some scoring firepower in the short term, and trade him once the NHL’s holiday roster freeze ends? We think so.
The Rangers have more than enough salary cap space – about $8.4 million – to make a trade without including Kreider’s $6.5 million cap hit. And the bigger problem with Kreider is the two seasons he is under contract after this season. That will be a tough job for Rangers GM Chris Drury to convince another team to invest in a player the Rangers no longer appear to be interested in.
There’s no doubt about it: the Rangers are a serious mess. But attributing their woes to Kreider’s impact (or lack thereof) isn’t accurate if you’re Rangers management. The loyalty Kreider has shown to the organization over the past twelve seasons is currently unrefundable. Considering the Rangers lost 5-0 to the Devils and were humiliated in the process, Kreider is clearly not the problem in New York City.
In the right situation – with a legitimate Stanley Cup contender – Kreider could be a scoring machine and a difference maker. But the Rangers aren’t in the right situation, and when they put their fight at the feet of an experienced hand like Kreider, they can’t see the forest for the trees.
If Kreider returns to action, he will have to play with a chip on his shoulder because the Rangers have slighted him in a big way. Kreider can be part of a team’s solution, as he has long been, but the Rangers no longer appear to want him to be part of the solution in Manhattan.
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