The New York Rangers have freed up some cap room after trading Derick Brassard, and could look to lock up RFA Chris Kreider for the long term.
The New York Rangers often get stuck with having a good player and wanting to keep him, but end up being on two different ends of the money spectrum.
This seems to be the case for the Blueshirts and one of their top six forwards, Chris Kreider.
The Rangers trading Derick Brassard to Ottawa has freed up some cap space so getting their RFA’s signed can be done, but by a slim margin. According to CapFriendly, the Blueshirts’ cap space currently is $11.575 million.
Without further ado, here is the case for Chris Kreider.
The New York Post’s Larry Brooks says Kreider is asking for $4.75 million, and the Rangers struck back with an offer of $3.2 million.
The 25 year old out of Boxford, Massachusetts, did not have the year many fans wanted to see last season.
At the end of an 82 game season, in which Kreider dressed in 79 of, he tied his career high in goals (21) and finished with 43 points.
It was still a successful season for the winger, even though the fans did not see Kreider reach the next level they all wanted, including myself.
Here is a small side note: fans’ biggest problem with Kreider is often his immature actions on the ice causing a penalty.
Funny enough, last year he had 58 PIMS, his lowest total since his rookie year in which he finished with six PIMS.
According to Joshua Khalfin‘s APEx tool, this is how Kreider stacks up against other players who make similar money then he does:
Looking at the stats, here is what they tell us.
Compared to players who make between 3.00-3.99% of the cap, Kreider is a better player.
He has higher goals, assists, and points in the Stats Per 60 category, the same could be said for his Corsi.
His scoring chances are good compared to players in those brackets as well.
The same could be said for forwards who make more than what Kreider does, between 4.00-4.99% of the cap. The gap does close between the two though.
Kreider has a high Stats Per 60, Corsi, is a tad bit lower in goals against per 60, and high scoring chances for as well.
So the Rangers are at a fork in the road. I think the Rangers really want Kreider back because there is a lot to lose. He is a good player who can come running out of the gates come October.
The Rangers could increase their offer to Kreider because they know what is at stake; a top six forward only 25 years old is worth keeping. It will be interesting, however, to see how this pans out.
It could go several ways, the Rangers could offer more, Kreider could come down from his offer, or they end up parting ways. And if that happens, the Blueshirts will likely lose one of their better young players on a roster that doesn’t exactly have youth on its side.
