Jeff Gorton spoke with EJ Hradek at the GM meetings and said (NHL Network)

On the trade deadline and keeping Kreider, “I think that, first of all, our team has played particularly well in recent time here and up until the home and home with Philly we were about 9-1, had a nine-game winning streak on the road, things we were really proud of with where our group is at. It was important, with Kreider in particular, that he’s a big piece of the team and if we are going to move it forward, we have a lot of young players, we need some guys that have been around and impactful to our team and Chris is a core piece. We felt like it was a priority to keep him and move forward with our group. At his age, the way he keeps himself in condition, his production, the way he skates, he’s taylor-made for the NHL. That was important for us. The trade with Brady Skjei, it was a move that we felt like the future of our defense is in pretty good shape and having the flexibility moving forward. We are going to have other players that we have to sign and you always have those issues, the cap gets in your way sometimes and this might be one of those times.”

On the Kreider prognosis, “we are obviously hopeful sooner than later but with these things, it’s weight bearing when you break your foot. I think that if you look over time, some of the people that have had the same type of injury, you are looking at 4-6 weeks as probably realistic. I know Chris is looking at it as being back sooner and if you see the kind of condition he’s in and his work ethic it’s hard to bet against him. We are hopeful sooner than that and take it one game at a time without him.”