Chris Kreider has been on of my favorite players for a long time. I really would like to see him stay here long term.
The logical side of me has long thought he would not get a contract extension at the type of money he would likely command.
I am however rethinking the premise of keeping rather than trading him. Kreider is without question, a leader (if not the leader) of the team. Take him away and the senior forwards are Panarin and Zibanajad. Both great guys and very good players (and very good locker room influences) but that doesn't exactly scream veteran leadership to me. With Staal and Lundquist aging out in the next year or two, I wonder where the veteran leadership on this team is going to come from. Go read the Mark Recchi article that's been floating around to see my point.
I also have much less concern about Kreider aging badly due to the type of game he plays. Kreider at 85% is still faster than 3/4 of the league. He contributes at both ends of the ice.
Logic says you can't give a 29 year old player a seven year contract. I agree. I also think there may not be a lot of really good teams willing to line up to do exactly that. Kreider may be anticipating the market and seeing his options may not be all that exciting. If the cap is only going to go marginally next year, there are a lot of teams that are already in cap trouble.
My though is that 4 years @$7.5MM (the Pacioretty contract) or 5 years @ $7MM (the Van Riemsdyk contract) may be doable and possible. If the player will bite, I would.
I think the Rangers would like to see this settled before training camp. One large distraction removed from the 2019-20 season.
I think we may end up being surprised here.
The logical side of me has long thought he would not get a contract extension at the type of money he would likely command.
I am however rethinking the premise of keeping rather than trading him. Kreider is without question, a leader (if not the leader) of the team. Take him away and the senior forwards are Panarin and Zibanajad. Both great guys and very good players (and very good locker room influences) but that doesn't exactly scream veteran leadership to me. With Staal and Lundquist aging out in the next year or two, I wonder where the veteran leadership on this team is going to come from. Go read the Mark Recchi article that's been floating around to see my point.
I also have much less concern about Kreider aging badly due to the type of game he plays. Kreider at 85% is still faster than 3/4 of the league. He contributes at both ends of the ice.
Logic says you can't give a 29 year old player a seven year contract. I agree. I also think there may not be a lot of really good teams willing to line up to do exactly that. Kreider may be anticipating the market and seeing his options may not be all that exciting. If the cap is only going to go marginally next year, there are a lot of teams that are already in cap trouble.
My though is that 4 years @$7.5MM (the Pacioretty contract) or 5 years @ $7MM (the Van Riemsdyk contract) may be doable and possible. If the player will bite, I would.
I think the Rangers would like to see this settled before training camp. One large distraction removed from the 2019-20 season.
I think we may end up being surprised here.