With the New York Rangers poised to make a move, Chris Kreider’s name is being mentioned in possible trade rumors.
As of late Tuesday afternoon, the New York Rangers have not announced any players on unconditional waivers or bought out.
However, the New York Post’s Larry Brooks did shoot out a tweet stating “industry sources report Kreider’s name is out there everywhere.”
Cannot say that there is necessarily anything brewing but a couple of industry sources report that "Kreider's name is out there everywhere." Rangers' buyout window closes at 5 PM tomorrow.
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) July 30, 2019
Kreider will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. The 28-year-old has played his entire career with the Blueshirts. After a free agency period that saw both Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes secure long-term deals, many believe CK will be looking for the same thing.
The big question is would the Rangers be willing to offer the left-winger a long term contract. This so-called rumor would have that answer be “no.”
The Rangers still need to figure out a way to become salary cap compliant. Kreider is due to make $4.625 million this season. The team needs to decide the long-term future and what works best to fix the cap issues.
If the Rangers don’t want to work out a deal in the five- or six-year range at the very minimum, trading him could help the organization bring them closer to the salary cap ceiling of $81.5 million.
The buyout window, which would also give the team more salary-cap relief, closes Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Brendan Smith, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Vladislav Namestnikov. have all been mentioned as potential buyout candidates.
For now, Rangers fans will have to wait and see how Jeff Gorton and John Davidson approach their salary cap issues.
