2025 Rangers Report Card: Chris Kreider

This post is part of an ongoing series of Rangers Report Cards, grading the performance of each member of the 2024-25 New York Rangers. To view more report cards in this series, go here.

It’s difficult to talk about Chris Kreider when there’s so much weight behind him. Not just Chris Drury’s memo, not his down season, and not his modified no trade clause, nor his visible back pain this year (I mean, the metaphor writes itself). There are greater emotions about him as a player for fans of this franchise. This is not a case where you can just list stats and analyze play. Kreider not only represents the litany of uncertainties for the Blueshirts this offseason, he has represented this entire team for the past thirteen years.

Once one of the only consistencies among an ever-changing group of faces, Kreider now turns into a question mark. Let’s assess his season, and most importantly, where he goes from here.

Expectations

It was always going to be tough for Kreider to follow up his performance in 2023-24. The second round of the 2024 NHL Playoffs saw what will likely be his career-defining moment—a natural hat trick in the third period of Game 6 against the Carolina Hurricanes, single handedly sending the New York Rangers to the Eastern Conference Final. At 34 years old, it’s hard to imagine Kreider improving upon that. 

The winger, however, always has surprises up his sleeve. He was 31 years old during his peak season in 2021-22, scoring 52 goals, after all. His notably strict diet and training regimen—and his self-serious attitude towards the game—gives him an unexpected longevity. It wouldn’t surprise anyone for Kreider to repeat his steady streak.

Yet age comes for every player in the end. The game speeds up as you slow down, the plays get more complex when you try to rely on old trusted skills, and the wear and tear of years of physicality on the ice takes a toll on the body. No matter how much you take care of yourself, there is a time limit on your sustained success in the NHL.

Perhaps some cautiously anticipated a decline in the “elder statesman’s” play, but no one could have predicted how Kreider’s name would become fuel to the dumpster fire of this season.

Performance

Totals: 68 GP, 22G, 8A, 30 PTS, -5 +/-

Kreider began this past season as he normally did—on the wing of longtime linemate Mika Zibanejad. Reilly Smith was brought in over the summer as yet another attempt to find New York’s Next Top Right Winger. The trio seemed to be finding their footing rather slowly, yet developed a decent chemistry. Kreider spoke to the helpfulness of knowing Reilly through his brother Brendan, and how that contributed to their familiarity on the ice. Consistency was all Kreider and Zibanejad were asking for after years of being shuffled around with a rotating door of thirds and unable to cement a truly threatening top line.

This all shifted once the Blueshirts headed down their abysmal fall spiral with Zibanejad directly in the hot seat. Kreider’s own game suffered as his partner became liberal to turnovers and struggled to set up plays for him. Between October and early November, the veteran scored just 9 goals. He wasn’t considered the worst on the team by far, but he was fading into the background, an echo of his former self. 

Then came Chris Drury’s infamous memo. The general manager alerted all 31 other teams in the league that he was open for business and not afraid to make big moves, including trading captain Jacob Trouba and the longest tenured Ranger. Naturally, this caused mass hysteria in New York. Out of all the players struggling at the start of the season, Kreider wasn’t one that jumped out as someone who needed to go. The idea of moving him alluded to a bigger shift within the organization. Losing a still valuable asset like Kreider meant that not only was the team going to restructure, it may even begin to rebuild.  

Kreider was absent for three games around this time, stoking fears of this unfortunate prophecy coming true. He would soon jump on the microphone and clarify that he was out because of injury, not a brewing trade. He gave a very honest interview describing his struggles with back pain, once again displaying a key understanding of and relationship to his body. 

“Back locked up on me — sacrum,” he told Mollie Walker of the New York Post. “Few games back it was lumbar [spine, the lower back made up of five or six vertebrae that support most of the body’s weight and allow for movement] and then during training camp it was thoracic [the chest, or the part of the body between the neck and the abdomen].”

It was a relief to see the winger address the elephant in the room. Fans noticed his injury on the ice and in behind the scenes videos, as chronic pain of that nature is difficult to mask.

Kreider didn’t make any excuses for his performance, however. 

“Shouldn’t trivialize someone’s feelings, but how you feel doesn’t affect your ability to do something that you’ve done for the entirety of your life—unless you let it,” he said.

With no trade coming to fruition for Kreider and the player returning to the lineup by December, the memo appeared to act mostly as a threat to the team, and particularly towards Zibanejad. Get going, or lose your best friend.

While this is a report card focused on performance, you cannot assess Kreider’s season without that broader context. His game suffered in the wake of Drury’s mob shakedown and his persistent injury. Post-memo, Kreider scored just 13 goals, notched 8 assists, and finished with a -4 plus-minus rating. He even found himself as a healthy scratch around Christmas, a game against the New Jersey Devils which saw the Rangers fall 5-0 to their Tri-State little brothers. Wonder why.

After the scratch, Peter Laviolette shifted Kreider up and down the lineup, mostly relegating the veteran to the bottom six. Kreider played alongside just about everyone this year. He actually led the team in line placements, finding himself involved in no less than 26 different combinations. Kreider is a plug-and-go kind of player who can contribute at any spot on the roster, but expecting someone to re-tune their game when each night feels like Russian roulette is overly demanding. 

Moreover, his point totals fell sharply in part due to the Rangers’ power play falling from grace. Kreider is a noted power play merchant, tied for the most man-advantage goals in franchise history alongside Camille Henry at 116. Without any life in his most comfortable spot, it was hard for him to earn those goals he is known for. 

A lot of folks attribute the lack of scoring at 5-on-4 to the players’ inability to adapt, but it is understandable why the old routine started to grow stale. The Blueshirts’ power play has been a machine for the past few years and no doubt much of the league has reviewed their tape to improve their own game, both on the power play and the penalty kill. They know exactly how the Rangers’ strategy works by now. Every goalie and defenseman knows Chris Kreider will be waiting by the crease, so they prepare themselves accordingly. The goals that came effortlessly for him were suddenly stopped in their tracks, and he finished the season with just 6 goals on the man-advantage. 

Kreider still managed to put up a modest performance on the penalty kill, finding himself in the middle of the pack with 12 goals against while down a player (via NaturalStatTrick). Separated from his usual linemate, each time Zibanejad and Kreider united on open ice for a shorthanded chance seemed to be a reminder that he wasn’t being given the best opportunity with his most trusted teammate enough. There were flashes of the old Kreider here—the towering forward with speed, unafraid to storm towards the net with pure, unbridled confidence. For some reason, Laviolette just didn’t see the promise in these moments.

To make matters worse, Kreider’s back pain persisted throughout the season. He was placed on injured reserve in January and March. It allowed for some of the younger Rangers to make an appearance at the NHL level, which complicated the lineup even further. Now Laviolette had to juggle a handful of rookies in addition to the veterans struggling to break through their slumps. Too many cooks in the kitchen, but not enough sauce from any.

Kreider’s appearance at the 4 Nations Face-Off likely did not help his health. Though he only played one game, in which he scored for Team USA in his hometown of Boston, to let a player attend a Mickey Mouse tournament in the midst of a complicated injury is bewildering. Although, most of this season for the Blueshirts could be described as bewildering.

All-in-all, Kreider was just not himself this season for a variety of reasons. He struggled like everyone else on the roster, but as a de facto leader of the team, this weighed heavier on his shoulders than most. He took the failure of this season personally, constantly speaking about the need to improve and the games ahead. Yet no matter how many expletives he dropped, he could not get going at his usual pace again. 

Grades

Author Grade: C (Once again, I grade on a curve)

Banter Consensus: D+

Evaluation

One of the biggest questions remaining from this season is why the Rangers organization allowed their star veteran to play through one of the most troublesome injuries of his career. I have to imagine this decision came from Kreider himself—from a hockey player’s determination, grit, and hubris to play on. At some point, however, someone on the bench or in the front office has to tell these guys “no.” No doubt Kreider wanted to leave these lingering concerns in the locker room and put his best foot forward on the ice, but it was evident by the end of the year that he could not break through his pain nor the theatrics of the team. When that situation arises, it’s the job of management and coaching to cut players off like a bartender before they cause themselves irreparable harm.

Rumors swirl daily about Chris Kreider’s future with New York, with a summer trade seeming like an inevitability now. You have to ask yourself though, did his performance this year tank his value ever-so-slightly? Obviously any team would salivate over the thought of getting a player like Kreider on their roster, especially a number of younger groups in need of veteran presence and especially one with as much playoff experience as number 20. Yet, what could the return possibly be for a 34-year-old showing signs of a visible, persistent injury? Drury is not exactly known for squeezing the most out of these sorts of opportunities (see: Sammy Blais for Pavel Buchnevich).

In reality, a Kreider trade would now function less as a chance to acquire multiple shiny assets, and more of a cap dump. He has two seasons left at $6.5 million annually, eating up a significant chunk of space right as the team attempts to re-sign younger players like Will Cuylle and K’Andre Miller, while anticipating Igor Shesterkin’s record-breaking contract extension. It comes down to a number crunch, which leaves an odd taste in your mouth considering how much the player has given to this team.

“This is home for me,” Kreider told reporters on break-up day. “This is the organization that gave me an opportunity to live out my dream. So obviously this is where I want to be and this is the group that I want to help in whatever fashion.”

Kreider is not only a body on the ice meant to churn out goals. He is a leader in the locker room, a voice of reason, and a mentor to younger players. His contributions extend far beyond the scoresheet. We've seen it particularly in the past two seasons with his embracement of Matt Rempe.

Braden Schneider once remarked:

“In the room, he's a guy that doesn't say too much. But when he does say stuff, it has your attention. He has all ears and you know he's being serious when he's saying it. As a young guy, he's very good at – he doesn't call you out or make a (fool) out of you by any means. But he's always very good at, if you make a mistake and he sees something that he can help with, he’ll come and say, ‘Hey, I think you could have done this and this. What you did is good, but this is just a little constructive criticism for you.’ Not in a bad way. It's all positive to boost you up.”

Kreider represents something larger for the New York Rangers. Since the retirement of Henrik Lundqvist, he has become the face of the franchise, someone synonymous with this team and someone non-New York fans are shocked to discover isn’t captain. He’s set a decent chunk of franchise records while starting a family and embracing this city as his own. In the past fifteen years, the Rangers have cast aside their drafted players like used tissues, but Kreider has persisted through it all. He remains the only home grown player to stand the test of time, and to lose that signals the true end of an era.

It will be incredibly tricky to find a landing spot for the winger. His 15-team no trade list severely restricts his movability. Given his desire to stay put, and especially considering the fact that he’s currently raising a newborn, Kreider will not likely waive his M-NTC even for a comfortable change of scenery. Drury is limited to making deals within that seventeen team window, and there is no telling which of those teams are even open to taking on the aging forward.

The general manager could always opt to pull another waiver threat. Given Drury’s contract extension and ruthless toxicity this season, that is certainly not out of the question.

New York Rangers fans, and even the front office, seem to have a short memory. Often they forget Chris Kreider’s place in this team’s fabric and pine for a world in which shipping him off is the solution to all of the group’s problems. But if you’re ready to cast out the heart of this franchise without the slightest bit of remorse, I don’t know if you’re watching hockey for the right reasons.