No one saw this coming from a New York Rangers squad that had just clinched the Presidents’ Trophy and reached the Eastern Conference Final a year ago. Yet, in 2024-25, they’ve collapsed and missed the playoffs entirely.
Despite management’s attempts to patch things up midseason, team morale never recovered.
Several players faded into the background this year, but none more notably than power forward Chris Kreider. The team’s longest-serving player—who debuted at Madison Square Garden straight from Boston College 13 years ago—saw his production plummet from 39 goals and 75 points to just 20 goals and 25 points.
A key reason behind that decline? The Rangers’ power play, which dropped from fourth in the league last season to 27th this year.
Kreider built his reputation as one of the NHL’s top net-front presences, specializing in tip-ins and rebound goals. But without that impact, the 33-year-old has looked like a shell of himself.
It wasn’t just his scoring that declined—his presence on the ice all but vanished.
Once the franchise’s all-time leader in playoff goals, Kreider was reportedly included in general manager Chris Drury’s message to the league’s 31 other GMs before a flurry of trades began in December, starting with captain Jacob Trouba.
According to New York Post senior NHL writer Larry Brooks, Kreider’s performance noticeably dropped after the memo leaked—perhaps to dissuade teams from trading for him.
Brooks believes the Rangers are preparing to move on from Kreider once the season ends.
“It’s time,” Brooks said of Kreider’s time with the Rangers. “The relationship has run its course. Maybe it’s like a breakup—emotionally distant, coexisting. The memo likely hurt. So did being publicly scratched. Kreider never commented on it. He hasn’t addressed the season at all.
Or maybe he has. Because not long after that memo leaked in November, Kreider sat down with reporters to discuss a lingering issue—chronic lower back pain that’s been bothering him throughout the season.”
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