Out of the blue, the Anaheim Ducks—with Chris Kreider’s approval—decided to place the veteran winger on waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. Having spent his entire NHL career (minus last season) with the New York Rangers, the Blueshirts were one of the first names linked to Kreider.
However, it seems virtually impossible for New York to complete such a move. In fact, a report is unequivocal in addressing the odds of the Rangers bringing Kreider back to the Big Apple for the 2026-27 NHL campaign.
“There is zero chance [Kreider] comes back to the New York Rangers,” Jonny Lazarus of Daily Faceoff stated on his X account. While it may be a comforting lie for Rangers fans to tell themselves otherwise, it would take a series of miracles for New York to bring its all-time third-highest goal scorer back.
Why has Kreider become available?
Not many expected the Ducks to find themselves in this spot heading into the new NHL season. However, after signing Leo Carlsson to a five-year, $90 million ($18 million AAV) extension, and with another piggy bank-shattering deal on the way for Cutter Gauthier, the Ducks suddenly became cash-strapped.
Chris Kreider arrives for a game at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Moving on from 35-year-old Kreider, even though he’s coming off his eighth straight 20-plus-goal season, simply made too much sense. The trade route was an option, but Anaheim likely would have had to give up something else or retain a percentage of the cap hit in order to move a veteran on a contract year, so this was a much faster and virtually effortless solution.
Now, Kreider is up for grabs, and likely to be heading for a Stanley Cup contender. For more reasons than one, the Rangers don’t make much sense for him at this point. That is still true, even if reports state Kreider wants to return east and move closer to his family.
Rangers no longer a fit for Kreider
For starters, the Rangers currently have less than $1 million available in cap space (roughly $995,000, according to PuckPedia). That means they can’t accommodate Kreider’s $6.5 million cap hit. Even though he’s now an unrestricted free agent, Kreider’s contract carries over to his next club.
Kreider is only due $4 million in the remaining year of his contract, as he was paid a $1 million signing bonus by Anaheim on July 1. Even if New York can figure out a way to bring in Kreider and still be cap compliant, a return to New York City may not be on the veteran’s wish list.
Moreover, Kreider’s relationship with GM Chris Drury may not be on the best of terms after he was traded last offseason. By the looks of it, there will be no homecoming for Kreider.
