The New York Rangers have made a flurry of trades since December, but none hit home for their fans quite like this.
Chris Kreider, the longest-tenured Blueshirt and franchise leader in playoff goals, is being shipped to the Anaheim Ducks as part of team president Chris Drury’s ongoing purge. The trade began to pick up steam June 10 and was pushed over the finish line June 12, after the 34-year-old winger took a couple days to mull over changing teams after 13 seasons in New York.
The Ducks were reportedly on his 15-team no-trade list, so no deal could be completed without Kreider’s approval.
Details of Chris Kreider trade
The Rangers will receive center prospect Carey Terrance and a 2025 third-round draft pick (No. 89 overall) as their return, with Anaheim getting back a 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 104 overall).
But the biggest selling point was the Ducks agreeing to take Kreider’s full $6.5 million average annual value over the final two years of his contract.
It’s the second time in roughly seven months that Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek has helped Drury clear unwanted salary. The Ducks absorbed former Rangers captain Jacob Trouba’s full $8 million AAV on Dec. 6 and will now enter the 2025-26 season paying Kreider and Trouba a combined $14.5 million.
New York is left with an updated projection of nearly $15 million in available cap space heading into the July 1 free-agent signing period, but that number could change in the coming days.
Multiple sources indicated the Rangers have upped their efforts to trade restricted free-agent defenseman K’Andre Miller in recent weeks while looking into several other trade possibilities. Drury is casting a wide net with the intention of changing the locker-room dynamics following last season’s stunning collapse. That means more familiar faces are likely to go while simultaneously pursuing a variety of possible additions.
Chris Kreider: A Rangers franchise great
Kreider is the most familiar of them all, having been drafted 19th overall by the Rangers in 2009 before making his anticipated debut in the 2012 playoffs. He spent the next 13 seasons on Broadway while bringing a speed-and-scoring combination and an unmatched work ethic that helped him rise among the franchise’s all-time greats.
The Boxford, Massachusetts native often ran hot and cold with his performance, but his overall body of work should stand the test of time. He sits third in Rangers’ history with 326 goals, including tying Camille Henry for most power-play tallies with 116, and eighth in games played with 883. He catapulted himself up those lists by honing his net-front presence and raising his game once he turned 30, highlighted by a career-high 52 goals in 2021-22 that tied Adam Graves for second most in a single season.
But Kreider’s most memorable moments came in the playoffs, where he appeared in more games than any other Ranger (123) and netted 48 career goals to easily become the franchise’s No. 1 postseason scorer. New York made the playoffs 10 times with No. 20 in the lineup, including five appearances in the Eastern Conference Final and a 2014 trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
We’ll dissect the fallout in the morning once we get official word (including what the #NYR can do with a new projection of nearly $15M in cap space), but for now, consider Kreider’s place in Rangers history:
Goals – 326 (3rd all time)
Playoff goals – 48 (1st)
PP goals – 116…— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) June 11, 2025
No one could have seen this trade coming 12 months ago, when Kreider was being celebrated for his signature achievement – a natural hat trick in a close-out game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Rangers won the first three games of the second-round series but were on their heels after losing the next two, with the Canes swarming them for a 3-1 lead entering the final period of Game 6. Then Kreider scored three consecutive goals to stun the Carolina crowd and propel New York to its second Eastern Conference finals in three years. Legend has it he told teammates entering the final 20 minutes, “I’m going to get one.”
A bitter ending for Chris Kreider with Rangers
The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder surely would have been worth more than a prospect and a pick swap at this time last year, but his value was tanked by a disastrous 2024-25 season for pretty much all involved. He battled various ailments, including a left-hand injury that would require offseason surgery, while putting up one of his worst statistical seasons with 22 goals and only eight assists in 68 games.
Drury had seen enough by late-November, when he sent out a memo to all 31 GMs that essentially put a “For Sale” sign on the entire roster and specifically named Kreider and Trouba. That sent the locker room into a tailspin and cast the die for what became an inevitable divorce with the Rangers’ elder statesman.
Kreider was never the most vocal team spokesman, but he was especially recluse in the aftermath of that memo and rarely spoke to the media after games.
“That’s part of professional sports, unfortunately,” Kreider told reporters on April 21. “I’m lucky I don’t have any social media. I wasn’t really aware of it until people close to me brought it to my attention, but just try to show up and do your job the best of your abilities. Guys come and go. Unfortunately, it happened a lot over the course of the season for us, and there was a lot of roster change. Usually within a season, there’s certain brush points where you expect it. Obviously, this year was different.”
By February, it had become clear to all parties that a split was coming. Drury attempted to make the move prior to the March 8 trade deadline, but it was complicated by the timing of the hand injury. He determined the summer would be a better time to act, with Kreider seemingly resigned to his fate. But that didn’t stop him from making a final pitch at breakup day.
“This is home for me,” he said. “This is the organization that gave me an opportunity to live out my dream. I’ve developed so many incredible relationships and grown up and spent so much time in this area. Obviously, this is where I want to be, and this is the group that I want to help, in whatever fashion, win hockey games.”
Carey Terrance adds to Rangers’ thin center pipeline
Drury had to work with Kreider to ensure there were no hiccups with the no-trade list but once again found a willing partner in southern California.
Chris Kreider is the type of player we were looking to add this offseason,” said Verbeek. “He has size, speed and is a clutch performer that elevates his game in big moments. Chris also upgrades both of our special teams units, something we really needed to address.”
The Ducks are becoming Rangers’ West, with Kreider set to join Trouba, Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano among Anaheim’s former Blueshirts. Verbeek is determined to add accomplished veterans to push the talented, young roster he’s assembled over the playoff hump, and the Rangers are reaping the benefits.
Drury wasn’t able to land any of the immediate impact players he’s seeking – those moves are still coming – but Terrance instantly becomes the most intriguing center prospect in a system that’s extremely thin down the middle.
That’s not saying a whole lot, but the 20-year-old boasts notable speed and a two-way approach that should give him a chance to reach the NHL one day.
The Akwesasne, New York native was selected in the second round (No. 59 overall) of the 2023 draft and ranked as the 10th-best prospect in the Ducks’ sturdy pipeline by The Athletic. He captained the Erie Otters of the OHL last season, where he posted 39 points (20 goals and 19 assists) in 45 games, and was selected by Team USA for the 2025 World Junior Championships.
The early impression is that the 6-foot-1, 187-pounder projects as a bottom-six center who will hustle on the forecheck, push the pace in transition and kill penalties, but he’s got plenty of time to develop.
Terrance signed his entry-level contract on April 9, which carries an $886,667 average annual value for the next three years, and could turn pro this coming season. In that case, he’d likely be assigned to the Rangers’ American Hockey League affiliate in Hartford, Connecticut.
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Chris Kreider traded by New York Rangers to Anaheim Ducks