Chris Kreider has been playing through a hamstring injury suffered against Tampa Bay in the Rangers loss on 2/27. (NY Post)
David Quinn said yesterday of Kreider, “he battled through an injury for sure, so for him he is doing everything he can and I give him a lot of credit for fighting through his injury and he is starting to feel better and I think you will see a better result from that.”
Kreider said that during this recent stretch he doesn’t think he hurt the team but noted that since he feels he didn’t “help” he “probably shouldn’t have played. (NY Post)
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He adds that he has started to feel more like himself lately and feels good about the last few weeks of the season. (NY Post)
Quinn added that in the past few games “his play has been much more noticeable, more involved and for someone who depends on his legs so much, when he had a lower body injury he was dealing with he did a real good job fighting though it and happy with the direction he is going for sure.”
Dave Maloney had said on the Rangers post game show a couple of weeks ago that he believed Kreider was dealing with a lower body injury. (MSG)
This season, by month, Kreider has produced:
- October: 12 games – 6 goals, 3 assists, 35 shots, 17:05 per game
- November: 14 games – 7 goals, 5 assists, 39 shots, 17:19 per game
- December: 12 games – 7 goals, 3 assists, 33 shots, 16:33 per game
- January: 12 games – 3 goals, 4 assists, 33 shots, 17:26 per game
- February: 13 games – 3 goals, 6 assists, 30 shots, 20:11 per game
- March: 9 games – 0 goals, 2 assists, 18 shots, 15:29 per game
Larry Brooks writes that “there is not even the slightest chance” Kreider will come to training camp next season as a pending UFA.
He notes that an extension for Kreider would likely be in the six-year, $6.5 million range and that if the Rangers opt not to go that route he will be the latest Ranger veteran to be moved. (NY Post)
Adam Rotter: This hamstring injury definitely helps explain not just why Kreider hasn’t been as productive but why he hasn’t been as noticeable over the past few weeks. He had 20 goals in the first 38 games, about 19% shooting percentage, but only 6, 9.5% , in the following 24 games before the injury against Tampa. Kreider was still getting a similar amount of shots, per month, but they weren’t going in as much in January and February.
When it comes to Kreider’s future, I think it’s very likely he gets an extension on July 1. The only thing standing in the way of that is if the Rangers try to use him as a main chip to get one of the top two picks in the draft. There Rangers had a very high price for Kreider at the deadline and I think they are very comfortable moving forward with him in the rebuild, and giving him a new contact, unless someone makes them an offer for a potential game changer. Kreider is different than all of the other players the Rangers have moved in the past. He’s a winger, great in front of the net, incredible combination of size, strength, speed, skating and keeps improving. He’s going to be part of things moving forward unless the opportunity for Jack Hughes, Kaapo Kakko or someone similar is coming back in return.