{"id":27649,"date":"2025-07-28T14:17:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T14:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/27649\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T14:17:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T14:17:17","slug":"kreider-expected-to-help-very-optimistic-ducks-after-trade-from-rangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/27649\/","title":{"rendered":"Kreider expected to help \u2018very optimistic\u2019 Ducks after trade from Rangers"},"content":{"rendered":"

STAMFORD, Conn. — A familiar sea of blue and white greeted Chris Kreider<\/a> for the 2025 Shoulder Check Showcase on Thursday. To fans of the New York Rangers, he will always be their own, even if orange is now the primary color.<\/p>\n

On a night prioritizing mental health, the 34-year-old forward was asked about being the longest-tenured member of the Rangers until he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks on June 12.<\/p>\n

“There’s a ton of energy in the organization,” Kreider said. “There’s a really good energy and guys are very optimistic.”<\/p>\n

He said he’s come to terms with the deal that sent him to Anaheim for 20-year-old forward prospect Carey Terrance<\/a> and a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Ducks also getting a fourth-round selection this year. The Rangers (39-36-7) missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs one season after winning the Presidents’ Trophy awarded to the team with the best record in the League, resulting in the firing of coach Peter Laviolette after two seasons. Defenseman K’Andre Miller<\/a>, another homegrown player, was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes on July 1.<\/p>\n

Kreider had 30 points (22 goals, eight assists) in 2024-25, the fewest in a full NHL season since 2017-18 (37 points; 16 goals, 21 assists in 58 games). There’s a scar on his left hand following surgery for an injury sustained in the third period of an 8-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 22, part of a season when he also had back spasms and vertigo.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s projected for Anaheim’s top line to the left of center Leo Carlsson<\/a> and right wing Troy Terry<\/a> and being counted on to help an offense that was 30th last season (2.65 goals per game) and in the bottom three in each of the past three. He’s reunited with former Rangers teammates Frank Vatrano<\/a>, Ryan Strome<\/a> and Jacob Trouba<\/a>, who was New York’s captain before being traded to the Ducks on Dec. 6.<\/p>\n

“Anytime you get a big player like that, it’s obviously going to help your lineup,” Ducks forward Cutter Gauthier<\/a> said, viewing Kreider as another mentor in his second season. “We’re fortunate that we were able to get him with how well he’s done over these handful of years with New York. Really looking forward to learning from him and playing with him as well.”<\/p>\n

Kreider will play for Joel Quenneville, a three-time Stanley Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks (2010, 2013, 2015). Anaheim finished sixth in the Pacific Division (35-37-10), missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season and fired coach Greg Cronin on April 19 after two seasons.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also expected to boost a power play that ranked last in the NHL last season (11.8 percent).<\/p>\n

“He brings us that element that our team definitely has to have a presence,” Quenneville said. “That presence, an inside presence, and a willingness to get there.”<\/p>\n

Kreider, 33-year-old forward Mikael Granlund<\/a>, 35-year-old captain Radko Gudas<\/a> and the other ex-Rangers are expected to teach the young Ducks how to win. The core is forwards Carlsson, 20; Terry, 27; Mason McTavish<\/a>, 22; and Gauthier, 21; defensemen Olen Zellweger<\/a>, 21; Pavel Mintyukov<\/a>, 21; and Jackson LaCombe<\/a>, 24; and goalie Lukas Dostal<\/a>, a 25-year-old who signed a five-year contract July 17 to take over with longtime starter John Gibson<\/a> traded to the Detroit Red Wings on June 28.<\/p>\n

After joining New York for the 2012 playoffs, Kreider exits third in team history in goals (326), fourth in short-handed goals (13), fifth in games played (883) and 10th in points (582). Kreider helped the Rangers reach the 2014 Stanley Cup Final, a five-game loss to the Los Angeles Kings, and two appearances in the Eastern Conference Final, including a six-game loss to the Florida Panthers in 2024. He had 76 points (48 goals, 28 assists) in 123 playoff games.<\/p>\n

But New York is ready to move on with new coach Mike Sullivan and younger forwards such as Brett Berard, 22, Brennan Othmann<\/a>, 22, and Gabe Perreault<\/a>, 20.<\/p>\n

“A lot of kindness, a lot of appreciation, a lot of gratitude — and that goes both ways,” Kreider said of his time in New York. “Super lucky to have experienced what I experienced, something that’s always going to be near and dear to me and a massive part of that is obviously the fan base. That’s what makes the Rangers so special.”<\/p>\n

Kreider will make what will likely be an emotional return to Madison Square Garden with the Ducks on Dec. 15.<\/p>\n

“His jersey is going be hanging up at MSG someday,” Vatrano said. “Sometimes the change of scenery is a good thing.”<\/p>\n

NHL.com staff writer David Satriano contributed to this report<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STAMFORD, Conn. — A familiar sea of blue and white greeted Chris Kreider for the 2025 Shoulder Check…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-27649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}