ANAHEIM, Calif. – The No. 1 priority for the Anaheim Ducks offseason was to add some scoring punch in their quest to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and after days of negotiation, general manager Pat Verbeek made the first move to address that need on Thursday.
The Ducks acquired veteran winger Chris Kreider and a fourth-round draft pick from the New York Rangers in exchange for 2023 second-round pick Carey Terrance and a third-round draft pick.
Kreider is the third all-time leading goalscorer in Rangers franchise history and has racked up the fifth-most power play goals in the NHL over the last four seasons. Last season, Anaheim was 30th in goal scoring with the league’s worst power play.
“Chris Kreider is the type of player we were looking to add this offseason,” Verbeek said in a statement. “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.”
Kreider has scored 20 or more goals in 10 of his 13 NHL seasons and 36 or more in three of the last four seasons. The 34-year-old is coming off an injury and drama-plagued campaign in the Big Apple where he put up 22 goals and eight assists in just 68 games.
He has two years remaining on his contract at $6.5 million per season and waived a reported 15-team no-trade clause to come to Anaheim.
The 20-year-old Terrance wrapped up his second junior season with the OHL’s Erie Otters. The two-way center captained the Otters this season but saw his production slip from 52 points in 56 games last season to 39 points in 45 games this season. Terrance also scored two goals for the gold-medalist Team USA at the World Junior Championships.
Anaheim sent Toronto’s third round pick to the Rangers and recouped its own fourth round pick, which was sent to New York in the Jacob Trouba deal in December. The Ducks retain nine draft picks in the 2025 NHL Draft, which takes place at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles this month.
Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Oct 26, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider (20) skates with the puck against Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe (2) during the first period at Madison Square Garden.
The deal gestated over a period of three days. Frank Seravalli of The Daily Face-off initially reported the teams were in “advanced discussions” on Tuesday with USA Today Rangers reporter Vince Mercogliano detailing the initial framework of Terrance and a pick for Kreider. Discussions continued into Wednesday where Kreider was processing the potential move and “going through his due diligence” to sign off on the trade, per Larry Brooks of the New York Post. Seravalli and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported a pick swap had been added to the deal during Wednesday’s continued talks.
Kreider waived his no-trade clause on Thursday, according to Brooks, paving the way for the trade to be finalized.
After taking on Kreider’s full contract, Anaheim holds just over $32 million in salary cap space–third-most in the NHL per PuckPedia–and is expected to take part in the big-money negotiations for top available free agent forward Mitch Marner of the Maple Leafs on July 1 with offers reportedly starting at $14 million per season. Additionally, the Ducks need to take care of their own restricted free agents in goaltender Lukáš Dostál and forward Mason McTavish.
The NHL’s salary cap is projected to go up by $8.5 million in 2026-27 and 2027-28.
Kreider has been one of the league’s most consistent goal scorers with a career-high 52 tallies in 2021-22 followed by campaigns of 36 goals and 39 goals before his dip in production last season. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Boxford, Massachusetts native is known for his speed and has been a regular play-driver and power play performer for the Blueshirts.
Last season was downturn in nearly all areas for Kreider. After three consecutive seasons of positive possession numbers, Kreider dropped down to earning just 46.64% of on-ice shot attempts at five-on-five, and after four straight seasons of positive expected goal shares, he slipped to 47.43% at five-on-five. Kreider remained a very effective power play presence.
However, the veteran dealt with back issues early in the season, suffered vertigo during the middle of the season and got hit with a hand injury after returning from 4 Nations Face-Off duty with Team USA. Kreider was also subject to the soap opera drama that surrounded the Rangers all season.
Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images
Nov 3, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba (8) and left wing Chris Kreider (20) celebrate a win against the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden.
New York general manager Chris Drury reportedly sent out a memo to all 31 of the NHL’s other general managers last November gauging the trade market for his veteran players, including Kreider and current Duck Jacob Trouba. The Rangers almost immediately went into a spiral, and Anaheim acquired Trouba, who was the Rangers captain at the time, just a few weeks later after Trouba was threatened with being put on waivers.
After winning the Presidents’ Trophy and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals the season prior, the Rangers finished out of the playoffs and just five points ahead of the Ducks.
The question for Anaheim is whether last season’s results were a circumstantial aberration and can a new situation with young talent and a new coach in Joel Quenneville bring Kreider back to his regular form. Kreider will also have some familiar faces in the Ducks locker room with former Rangers Trouba, Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano and Trevor Zegras, who trains with Kreider during the summer.
It’s another big-money acquisition by the Ducks to open up the Rangers books–Trouba makes $8 million this season–but Verbeek obviously sees Kreider as part of the answer to the Ducks’ scoring woes and got his man with small impact to the franchise’s future.