Chris Kreider, the New York Rangers mystery man

Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. Listed as 6’3″ and 216 lbs, Kreider is a big bodied physical force with high end speed and excellent hand eye coordination. He has all the tools to be a premiere power forward in the league. Yet, for all his physical attributes and skill, he is far to often an invisible component to the Rangers in game efforts.

New York Rangers fans long hoped for the breakout season that has never come. After scoring five playoff goals before ever playing a regular season game, hopes were set high. He spent the next few seasons finding and developing his game to the NHL level. Then, at 25 years old, he set career highs in goals (28), assists (25) and points (53). Kreider was poised to grow into the 30 plus goal scorer the fans had always envisioned.

Instead though, he plateaued leaving the 2016-17 season as his career best. Why? Injuries can be partly to blame as he only played 58 games in 2017-18 while having rib resection surgery. As can the COVID-19 pandemic having reduced the season schedule to 70 games last season and just 56 for this season.

Is Chris Kreider the Houdini of the New York Rangers?

Beyond these complications is a more disturbing factor. It is well known that Kreider is a streaky player. He scores in bunches and when Kreider brings his A game to the rink, he is an indispensable player for the New York Rangers. But, as with all streaky players, he does not always bring his A game. The issue for Kreider though, is that when he brings anything less than his A game, he disappears.

Kreider’s A game brings with it production in terms of goals, assists and points. But even when he is unable to crack the score sheet, he is a noticeable and involved player. When on top of his game, Kreider drives the net, is a tenacious on both the forecheck and backcheck. He finishes his checks, shoots to score and is a consistent net front presence causing havoc with screens and deflections.

When Kreider is off his game, not only is his name rarely printed on the scoresheet, but he does not play with the same intensity. He peels off instead of finishing his checks, he does not drive the net, playing more of a perimeter game instead. He looks pass before shooting and is easily boxed out from the top of the crease, becoming more of a back door option than providing a net front presence.

Last season was a microcosm for his career. Kreider got off to a slow start. He notched just 13 points (6 goals) in his first 28 games played. This left him eighth on the team in scoring, just one point ahead of then rookie Kaapo Kakko with nearly 100 more minutes played. Most disturbing was that during this stretch of games, Kreider was mostly ineffective. Enough so that Blue Line Station asked what had happened to him.

Then, starting with a goal versus the Las Vegas Golden Knights on December 8, 2019, Kreider went on a tear. He lifted his game to the level every Rangers fan has always hoped he could attain. Over a span of 30 games Kreider notched 18 goals, 14 assists and 32 points, including nine multi-point games. He was engaged throughout, a physical presence even in the eight games during this stretch he did not register a point.

His play leading into the trade deadline was a deciding factor in retaining the left wing for the next seven seasons at an annual average salary of $6.5 million. Expectations were that he had finally reached the threshold for that long sought for breakout. Unfortunately, for the first month of this season, Kreider was not on top of his game. His play led to him registering just four points (all goals) during the first 13 games of the season.

Since that point, Kreider has stepped up his game. He has scored 10 goals and five assists for 15 points over the last 13 games, including two hat tricks and four multi-point games. He has been involved to a degree that was just not present during the earlier part of the season. Which came at the most needed time for the New York Rangers as it was suffering through the injury, COVID and leave of absence bug.

This has led to a renewed call from the fans to name Kreider team Captain. However, is Kreider and his streaky play, the right fit for that responsibility? His off ice leadership is well noted, but how can a player lead by example when his own game is far too often open to lulls. This is not a question of production, as captains do not need to be the best players on the team, but in effort.

Kreider is an excellent fit as part of the teams leadership core, but he is not the right person to wear the “C”.