Beyond being one of the most prolific goal scorers in New York Rangers history, Chris Kreider was always a first-class human being start to finish during his tenure on Broadway. So, the fact that he exited the organization publicly expressing heartfelt appreciation Thursday is not a surprise.
Selected by the Rangers with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, Kreider was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for center prospect Carey Terrance and a swap of mid-round picks in this year's draft.
The departure of the longest tenured current Rangers player was expected for months, after his name was included in general manager Chris Drury's infamous trade memo in November. Though he had some dark moments the past several months, which included several injuries and a severe drop off with on-ice production this past season, Kreider took the high road Thursday.
"I think I've gone through the spectrum: Anger, sadness, grief," Kreider told reporters . "Whatever you want to call it. But I keep on arriving at gratitude for how I was treated, the opportunities I was given, for the connection I was able to make, the relationships, the friendships, the experiences I was able to have.
"Playing in front of that fan base, at that arena, playing in some of the games I was able to play in. Stuff that is so memorable and means so much to me and stuff that I'll take with me for the rest of my life."
Kreider also expressed his appreciation that the Rangers — Drury in particular — communicated honestly with him since the season ended about their plans to move him. It's been reported that Drury didn't enter trade discussions with the his Ducks counterpart Pat Verbeek before clearing it with Kreider, since they were on his 15-team no-trade list.
"There was a lot of communication from Rangers management and from Chris Drury, in particular, about where they stood and kind of what the next steps in the process were going to look like," Kreider explained . "Around the year-end meetings, we had some good conversations and I understood that this was a very real possibility."
Related: Top 10 Chris Kreider moments with Rangers before trade to Ducks
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The 34-year-old forward expressed regret that he tried to play through a hand injury after the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, reasoning that made him a shell of the impactful player he'd been previously.
Kreider finished third on the Rangers with 22 goals, but dropped from 75 points to 30 year-over-year from 2023-24. With Drury looking to shake up the roster after the Rangers missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in four years, Kreider was an obvious target to be traded, especially with a $6.5 million salary-cap hit the next two seasons. Anaheim took on the entirety of his contract, giving the Rangers much more financial flexibility this offseason, roughly $15 million.
Ironically, the Ducks did the same in December, when they took Jacob Trouba off the Rangers' hands. The former Blueshirts captain is owed $8 million this season.
"Chris Kreider is the type of player we were looking to add this offseason," Verbeek said in a statement . "He has size, speed and is a clutch performer that elevates his game in big moments. Chris also upgrades both of our special teams units, something we really needed to address."
Kreider leaves New York as the third-leading goal scorer in Rangers history with 326. He's also 10th all-time in points (582), seventh in games played (883), and tied for first with 116 power-play goals.
No Rangers player appeared in more postseason games than Kreider (123), and no-one scored more playoff goals (48). The Rangers played in five Eastern Conference Finals during Kreider's tenure and the 2014 Stanley Cup Final, when they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in five games.
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