After a brutal collapse this season, the New York Rangers are a team in transition. 

They fully intend on getting back into the post-season in 2025-26, but the Rangers are setting themselves up with a different look for the long term. On Thursday, they traded veteran left winger Chris Kreider and a 2025 fourth-round draft pick to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for prospect center Carey Terrance and a 2025 third-round pick that originally belonged to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Anaheim initially sent that fourth-rounder to the Rangers in December when it acquired former Blueshirts captain Jacob Trouba. And while New York clears cap space to make more of a splash this off-season, the Ducks’ splash has already begun.

“Chris Kreider is the type of player we were looking to add this offseason,” Ducks GM Pat Verbeek said in a press release. “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.”  

For the Ducks, the trade is a shot across the bow of the rest of the NHL this off-season, effectively announcing they’re open for business and looking to add experienced talent to get them into the playoffs for the first time since 2017-18.

But for the Rangers, the deal was about turning the page on one veteran and freeing up $6.5 million in salary cap space while re-stocking their prospect pool with an up-and-comer in the 20-year-old Terrance, who was selected 59th overall by Anaheim in 2023. 

Over the course of his 13-year NHL career, the 34-year-old Kreider has been one of the more consistent goal-scorers in the game, posting 25 goals or more on five different occasions. And in the two years from 2022 to 2024, Kreider produced 75 goals and 129 points. At that time, it would’ve been nearly impossible for Rangers fans to imagine Kreider would be traded. But this season, Kreider’s production fell to 22 goals and 30 points in 68 games – his lowest total since he put up 20 goals and 30 points in 50 games in 2020-21. 

Kreider was injured after the 4 Nations Face-Off, and he also dealt with vertigo and back issues, but Kreider will have time to recover before next season, so Anaheim is betting he rebounds in a big way. Losing Kreider may hurt the Rangers come the next post-season, but Drury wants a rejigged core to start next year, and cutting ties with Kreider tells Blueshirts players that this is a new era.

The Ducks, on the other hand, clearly value Kreider’s experience and playoff pedigree, as he has generated 48 goals and 76 points in 123 career post-season games. 

Anaheim GM Pat Verbeek has slowly but surely brought in veterans including Trouba and free-agent signing Alex Killorn, and given that Kreider had to waive his no-trade clause to accept the deal, the Ducks have convinced him they’re going to be a team to reckon with this year. Even after adding Kreider’s salary, they’ve got more than $32 million in cap space, and Verbeek isn’t going to sit back on his hands and not make the most of the cap space he still possesses. The changes on this Anaheim team are bound to continue.

The Rangers’ current group of prospects is far from the best, but they’re also not completely devoid of youngsters, and Terrance will give them some depth at the crucial center position. Terrance amassed 20 goals and 39 points in 45 games with the OHL’s Erie Otters this year while winning a gold medal with Team USA at the world juniors.

Ultimately, this is a trade that works for both sides. The Ducks get a proven performer in Kreider, who has only two years left on his contract. He also gets to move from the pressure-cooker atmosphere of Manhattan to the relatively calm environment of Anaheim, and he’s motivated to have a bounce-back year. And the Rangers acquired a player in Terrance who could be with them for a long time and make room to use their cap space more effectively.

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