I think it a forgone conclusion that Kreider will be going pro next year but I got to thinking about what kind of impact he will have and will he make the jump right away to the NHL.

We have seen the Rangers game-plan with kids....let them play a bit in the AHL and give them a shot mid season ala Haggs, McD. So safe to say unless he has a monster start like Step did he will start in the AHL.

Now to the point some people make that they want him to tear up college before making the jump and if they are not tearing up college they are not ready for the pros. You need to understand some things. Some players game translate better in the NHL and specifically im talking about speed. If you are skating around at a level 10 and your teammates are at a 5, that will have a direct effect. If you are a fast player playing in a slow game sometime that does not work to your advantage. Yeah it would be great to see him go end to end all the time and blow by defensemen but what kind of team player would that be? Also, If you are a shooter and your teammates cant get you the puck that will have an effect as well. Look at Haggs, he didn't tear it up college but watching his speed in the NHL you can see how much more effective he is as the level of play works to his advantage.

Now I am not predicting Calder for Kreider but just wanted to point out to his detractors that you cant judge his NHl game 100% on his college game. You need to look at his skill set and from all accounts he already has top NHL speed and size. All good signs that the team depth is about to get deeper.