The New York Rangers have had a disappointing year and a trade pitch has them dealing a star forward to a Western Conference team.
The website PuckPedia’s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades. One user proposed a deal that would see the Rangers dealing Chris Kreider to the Colorado Avalanche.
Rangers acquire:
- Jack Drury
- 2025 second-round pick
Avalanche acquire:
- Chris Kreider ($2 million retained)
The proposed deal would be a massive one as the Rangers would deal a star forward in Kreider for a second-round pick and a young forward.
Drury is 25 and is in the first year of a two-year $3.45 million deal. Drury was already traded from the Carolina Hurricanes to the Avalanche in the Mikko Rantanen deal. The young forward could be a middle-six center for the Rangers and add some youth to the lineup. He’s recorded 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points in 49 games.
In return, New York would trade Kreider to the Avalanche to help Colorado’s playoff run. After trading away Rantanen, the Avs are in need of a big-body forward who can score which is what Kreider is. The star forward is in the fifth year of his seven-year $45.5 million deal. Kreider has recorded 17 goals and 4 assists for 21 points in 48 games.
Rangers Discussed Kreider Trades Earlier in the Season
Kreider’s name was involved in trade talks earlier this season as the Rangers and he was struggling.
As New York was looking to shape up its core, Jacob Trouba and Kreider’s names were involved in trade discussions. The Rangers ended up trading Trouba, but during that time, Kreider said he wouldn’t let the trade noise distract him.
“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,” Kreider said to The New York Post. “There’s guys in here who will say there are games where they come in and they feel great and they don’t play well. There’s games where they’re under the weather, they’re sick, maybe they’re a little banged up and all of sudden the puck is following them around. Body knows what to do, just got to do it your own way and let it do it.”
Kreider has been with the Rangers since he was selected 19th overall in the 2009 NHL draft.
Avalanche Have Already Pulled Off 1 Blockbuster
Colorado general manager Chris MacFarland isn’t afraid to make a big move.
MacFarland shook up the NHL world when the Avalanche traded Rantanen to the Hurricanes. It was a blockbuster move, as Colorado is hoping to compete for a Stanley Cup but traded away one of its top players.
“I think it was just a tough business decision here for us,” MacFarland said. “I felt that the pieces we got made sense to strike now… It hurts, right. He’s a home-grown talent. He’s a superstar person, he’s a superstar human being. I think that’s sports, right. We’re going talk about it, people are going to talk about it. Your heartstrings get tugged. That’s why we all do this. He’s that good of a hockey player… He had the UFA card and we felt this is what we had to do.”
The Avalanche are 33-24-2 and holding onto a Wild Card spot.
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