Terrance ‘wants to be great’ for Rangers after trade from Ducks

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Carey Terrance was going through drills during New York Rangers development camp last month when the team’s coaching staff noticed some of his details were off and his finish wasn’t quite strong enough.

Now, remember, Terrance is new to the Rangers; he’s the forward prospect they acquired in the trade that sent forward Chris Kreider to the Anaheim Ducks on June 12. It was his first time on the ice with his new team, his first chance to make an impression on the team’s top brass.

So when the session was over, New York player development coach Jed Ortmeyer went to talk the 20-year-old about the drills. He wanted to let him know the expectations but also wanted to get to know the player with a conversation that had some meat-and-potatoes hockey talk.

Terrance’s reaction told Ortmeyer and the Rangers all they needed to know about him and the type of prospect they have a chance to mold into an NHL player.

“He was like, ‘Yes, let me know. I want to be coached. You’re never going to hurt my feelings. I want to know,’ ” Ortmeyer said. “That was great to hear. He wants to be coached. He wants to get better and he’s hungry. He’s eager to learn and he wants to be great.”

Terrance, selected by the Ducks in the second round (No. 59) of the 2023 NHL Draft, comes to New York with a decorated resume, including three gold medals won with the United States at the junior level; the 2024 and 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships and the 2023 World U18 Championship.

Last season, he was captain for Erie of the Ontario Hockey League, where he had 39 points (20 goals, 19 assists) in 45 games last season.

But nothing has been handed to him, certainly none of it has come easy, and all of it a result of his ability to accept coaching and to put what he learns into action to help his teams win.

Terrance, who has a high-end, attack-the-middle type of offensive game, has had to accept roles like being a bottom-six checking forward and penalty killer on the 2025 U.S. World Juniors team, and being a healthy scratch in 2024, when he won gold despite not playing in the tournament.

No complaints. Ever.

“He’s an outstanding person first and foremost,” said David Carle, who coached the U.S. World Juniors team the past two years. “He joined the U-18 group for their U-18 championship before the World Juniors and talking to the ’05s on that team, they just rave about him as a human. As I got to know him and got to know about his game, it’s really about his versatility. He can find a way to complement whoever he is with in whatever role he is in.”

Terrance scored two goals in seven games at the 2025 World Juniors, but said his biggest contributions to the U.S. were in the defensive zone.

“Defense wins championships,” Terrance said. “That was a big thing my last two years in the World Juniors and U-18s, that was kind of my role — play on the PK, win face-offs and be reliable. That’s something I’ve taken pride in my four years of junior and tournaments like that.”

Said Carle: “There is more offensive upside than maybe what we were asking of him, but that’s the tournament and guys are asking to do things that the team needs them to do.

“I think why he gained everyone’s respect so quickly is he was willing to do whatever the team needed on a day-to-day basis, do it with a smile on his face and be a great person while doing it.”

That’s one of the ways Terrance leads.

The other is with his voice.

“I’m vocal,” Terrance said. “I’m not a very easy guy on the ice. I’m not scared to get into guys.”

Carle said that tracks to Terrance’s desire to do what it takes to win no matter what the coaches ask of him.

He holds his teammates accountable that way, too.

“He’s very competitive, team-first oriented,” Carle said. “It goes to him communicating to coaches and accepting roles and doing it to the best of his ability. He’s got a 200-foot element and I think he thrives in playoff hockey. You have to get there and only half the teams get there, but when you’re there it’s usually the teams that have the most commitment to their details through the 200-foot game.”

Carle said there is nothing stopping Terrance from becoming an NHL player in the mold of Jonathan Toews, Sam Bennett and Vincent Trocheck. He’s strong at the face-off dot and needs to improve on his skating and finish.

But even if his game never reaches that level, Carle said he thinks there will always be a place for Terrance on an NHL team, comparing him to former center Nate Thompson, who played 844 NHL games across 15 seasons for nine different teams.

“I say Nate because I know him and my brother grew up with him,” Carle said. “He always endeared himself to his teammates, would do anything it took to win, and was super competitive.

“I think that’s the lowest floor and his highest ceiling is a 200-foot borderline star. He’s what everyone is searching for right now. I think Carey is going to be that coveted guy.”