Sellers have plenty of inventory
Rangers’ Kreider among the players waiting to learn his fate
Chris Kreider watched teammates Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes handle all the speculation before getting traded a year ago and saw others do the same in previous seasons.
With the New York Rangers still in the process of transitioning to contender status, it is Kreider’s turn, and he’s dealing with it his way.
“I think I’d be disingenuous to try to embody how someone else went about this situation, so I’m just trying to be myself every day,” Kreider said. “I feel like my name’s been out there for the last seven years. It’s just the nature of the beast.”
Kreider may be bracing for a trade that seems inevitable. The NHL standings suggest the Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings are clear sellers ahead of the Feb. 24 trade deadline.
While Kreider is the biggest name likely on the move, there is no shortage of talent available. New Jersey’s Sami Vatanen and Wayne Simmonds, Ottawa’s Jean- Gabriel Pageau and Ron Hainsey, Detroit’s Mike Green and Trevor Daley, and Los Angeles’ Tyler Toffoli and Trevor Lewis are all pending free agents.
There is also Senators forward Anthony Duclair who can be a restricted free agent, and Kings defenceman Alec Martinez is drawing interest with a year left on his contract. The Kings have already traded goaltender Jack Campbell and forward Kyle Clifford to Toronto and made no secret they are open for business.
“We all signed up for the plan,” first-year Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “We know where we’re going with the team and what we want to do with it. So, none of this approach to the deadline has been a shocker to us as a coaching staff.”
Duclair was traded three times his first five NHL seasons, so his approach hasn’t changed despite being in the midst of an impressive comeback year.
“I’ve been through it for a couple of years in a row now,” Duclair said. “I just try to focus on the team and I just try to win, help the team win as many games as possible and we’ll go from there.”
A Massachusetts native who played at Boston College, Kreider has been linked to the Bruins and the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues, who have more than stayed afloat amid significant forward injuries.
He said last month at all-star weekend that the Rangers winning games would go a long way to keeping the group together. Despite five victories in seven games after the break, New York is still nine points back of a playoff position and Kreider is almost certainly gone unless he signs an extension.
The same goes for Lewis, who might be the perfect kind of low-risk deadline pickup that has proven to be the blueprint for recent Cup winners. Kings general manager Rob Blake is attempting to quickly rebuild.
“I talk to my agent quite a bit, but it’s kind of up to them with what they want to do,” Lewis said.