For the entirety of Chris Kreider’s career, he’s been with one team until now as the New York Rangers traded the veteran forward to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.
The Rangers and Kreider had a successful 13-year marriage filled with memories of joy and success.
However, it ended with a season where Kreider was mentioned in trade rumors, dealt with numerous injuries, and had an overall down year for his standards.
It wasn’t clear if the relationship between Kreider and Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury was hindered after everything that transpired this past season.
At least according to Kreider, there was transparency from Drury about his trade intentions and there are no hard feelings in terms of how this whole situation was handled by the Rangers organization.
“I think so. There’s no point of reference for me. I’ve been lucky enough to have been with the Rangers for 13 years, so I’ve never been in a trade,” Kreider said. “I don’t think it’s super common to be afforded the time to kind of do my due diligence and kind of go through that emotional spectrum. I think it was done in a really respectful fashion by the New York Rangers, and I’m very appreciative of that.”
The 34-year-old forward has a 15-team no-trade clause in his contract, so finding an ideal fit was a long process for Kreider.
After doing his due diligence, he landed on the Ducks as the team he wants to start this next chapter of his career with.
Chris Kreider Feels ‘Gratitude’ After Trade To Ducks While Praising The Rangers’ Communication Throughout Process The move by the New York Rangers to trade Chris Kreider to the Anaheim Ducks comes with great emotion.
“I did have to waive my no-trade,” said Kreider. “When we sat down and Drury communicated to us that he was looking to free up cap space and that I could potentially be traded, we were allowed to go out and look at some teams and kind of do our due diligence. I think it’s a great fit. I think it’s a team that’s on the come-up, that has a wealth of talent, youth, veteran presence, speed, and size.
“It’s a group that I think can win hockey games and make a push to make the playoffs. With the addition of Quenneville and his staff, that’s a massive draw for me as well. It certainly helps knowing some of the guys on that team and kind of being able to get a look behind the curtain.”
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