Say what you want about how last season went and how the divorce was finalized, no matter what Chris Kreider’s Rangers legacy should be a positive one. Emotions will run high tonight as Kreider makes his MSG return tonight in an Anaheim Ducks uniform. Kreider and the Rangers came to a necessary end this summer when Kreider was traded for pennies on the dollar after an ugly season. One season shouldn’t, and won’t, ruin Kreider’s Rangers legacy, one filled with clutch playoff goals.
Kreider’s Rangers legacy goes far beyond just numbers, but the numbers do matter. Kreider is in the top-ten in most all time Rangers stat:
- Games played: 883 (8th)
- Goals: 326 (3rd)
- Plus/minus: 121 (6th)
- Even strength goals: 197 (4th)
- Powerplay goals: 116 (T-1st)
- Shorthanded goals: 13 (4th)
- Game winning goals: 50 (2nd)
- Shots: 2160 (5th)
- Hat tricks: 6 (4th)
- Plus many others that aren’t “traditional stats”
In Kreider’s 12 full seasons with the Rangers, Kreider finished with less than 20 goals just twice: his first full season in 2013-2014 (17 goals in 66 games) and an injury shortened 2017-2018 season (16 goals in 58 games). But both of those seasons are still 20-goal paced years over 82 games.
Kreider’s Rangers legacy is cemented in clutch goals and playoff performances
In the summer of 2018, after the Rangers window had come to an end, I ran a top plays of that era bracket. The premise was simple: 32 of the best plays/moments of that era, voted on in a bracket format. Of those 32 moments, a whopping six of them were from Kreider’s performances in the playoffs. Only one (Kreider and Carey Price) wasn’t a game tying or winning goal during their run.
Kreider was captain clutch for the Rangers in the playoffs. When the Rangers needed a big goal to turn the tides, he was the one that delivered. Derek Stepan doesn’t happen without Chris Kreider’s tying goal in Game 5, his drive to the net and screen on Ryan McDonagh’s winner in Game 5, or his two goals in Game 6. Before Mika Zibanejad could score his OT winner against Montreal in 2017, it was a Kreider tying goal.
Suffice it to say, Kreider’s Rangers legacy during that run was cemented with clutch performances and goals. But none of that compares to him single handedly putting the Rangers on his back in Game 6 against Carolina in 2024.
With the Rangers down 3-1 heading into the third period, about to completely blow a 3-0 series lead and give all momentum to Carolina, Kreider delivered. A third period natural hat trick sent the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Final, and Kreider’s Rangers legacy added another clutch game. This defined Kreider’s Rangers legacy, his Messier moment, as a Ranger, and one that will last forever.
Kreider’s Rangers legacy might be as the most clutch Ranger of all time in the playoffs. His style of play was unmatched, mixing a rare blend of speed, skill, strength, and intelligence to become the best net-front presence in the NHL and a premier player for over a decade.
Kreider’s Rangers legacy, in the short term, may feel tainted because of how things ended. An injury plagued season capped by a dumb memo and a falling out with his General Manager, Kreider still managed 22 goals in 68 games in his final year with the Rangers, a 27-goal pace over 82 games. It was time for both parties to move on. It’s a crime that Kreider couldn’t finish his career with the Rangers.
Thank you, Chris Kreider, for all the memories.