At least 4 NHL teams interested in acquiring Chris Kreider from the Rangers.

Kreider generating a ton of interest.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
At least 4 NHL teams interested in acquiring Chris Kreider from the Rangers.
Keystone Press

There has already been one big trade this season with the New Jersey Devils dealing star forward Taylor Hall to the Arizona Coyotes, well ahead of the 2020 National Hockey League trade deadline, and now it sounds like some of the teams that may have missed out on Hall have a new target in their sights. On Saturday night Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that at least four NHL teams are currently interested in acquiring the talented winger from his current team, the New York Rangers. 

"Also in New York with Taylor Hall traded the big name out there is Chris Kreider," said Friedman on Saturday's Headlines segment. "All the contenders from Colorado to Boston to St. Louis to Pittsburgh are all believed to be interested in him."

Three of the four teams mentioned by Friedman here, specifically the Avalanche, Bruins and Blues, were all rumored to be in on Taylor Hall to some extent or another and it seems fair to suggest that they have moved on to Kreider as the next most likely target to be traded. Kreider is in the final year of a 4 year deal that pays him an average annual value of $4.625 million per season and is set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of his current contract. This makes him a likely trade target as it seems unlikely that the rebuilding Rangers would have interest in signing what would be a then 29 year old Kreider to a long term contract extension. 

Interestingly enough though it sounds like the Rangers may not be prepared to let him go just yet and that may mean that Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton may be seriously considering the possibility of retaining Kreider, then again he may merely be trying to maximize his players value. 

"Teams don't believe right now that the Rangers have made [Kreider] available," said Friedman. "But they are waiting to see, if they decide they can't keep him and they wanna trade him there's a ton of interest."

Sounds like the ball is in Jeff Gorton's court here and it sounds like if the Avalanche, Bruins, Penguins, or Blues get their way we could soon see Kreider wearing a non-Rangers jersey for the first time in his NHL career. 

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