Rangers trade Chris Kreider to the Anaheim Ducks

It is the end of an era.

Chris Kreider, the third-leading goal scorer in Rangers history and franchise leader in playoff goals, is moving on. Kreider, the longest-tenured Ranger and the last remaining link to the club’s last Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2014, was traded to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.

The trade ends his Broadway run after 1,006 games combined in the regular season and playoffs.

"We want to thank Chris Kreider for all of his contributions to the Rangers organization over his stellar career," Rangers general manager Chris Drury said in a statement. "Chris has been an integral part of some of the most iconic moments in Rangers history, including setting multiple franchise records and helping the team advance to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. His leadership on the ice and tireless efforts in the community - which he was recognized for as the inaugural recipient of the Rod Gilbert 'Mr. Ranger' Award - only add to his distinguished Rangers legacy. Chris will always be a Ranger and we wish him and his family all the best.”

Kreider needed to approve the deal because Anaheim was one of the teams on his 15-team no-trade list. 

A source said the Ducks will take on all of Kreider’s $6.5 million cap hit, meaning the Rangers will have somewhere between $15 million and $17 million available under the NHL’s $95.5 million cap for 2025-26, with a number of restricted free agents still to re-sign.

The move will create some much-needed salary-cap flexibility for the Rangers as they seek to improve their roster after missing the playoffs this season. It reunites Kreider with former Rangers captain Jacob Trouba, who was traded to Anaheim in December, two weeks after a memo sent by Drury to the rest of the league was leaked, identifying Trouba and Kreider as being available for trade. In addition to Trouba, Kreider rejoins fellow former Rangers teammates Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano in Orange County.

In exchange for Kreider, the Rangers got back 20-year-old prospect Carey Terrance and an exchange of draft picks from the Ducks. The Rangers will get one of Anaheim’s third-round picks in this month’s draft (the one that originally belonged to Toronto) in exchange for the Rangers returning Anaheim’s own fourth-round pick, which had been acquired in the Trouba deal.

Terrance, a 6-1, 187-pound, two-way center who grew up on the Mohawk reservation in upstate New York, was a second-round draft pick in 2023. He was captain of the OHL’s Erie Otters this season and had 20 goals and 19 assists in 45 games during an injury-plagued season. He also played for the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the World Junior Championships in each of the past two seasons. 

Kreider, 34, ends his Rangers career after 883 regular-season and 123 playoff games over 13 seasons. A first-round draft pick in 2009 (19th overall), he joined the team after three years at Boston College, in time for the 2012 playoffs, where he scored five goals in 18 games, including two game-winners.

He had 582 points in his Rangers career and his 50 regular-season game-winning goals are second to Rod Gilbert’s franchise record of 52. His 116 regular-season power-play goals are tied with Camille Henry for the most in team history, and his 13 shorthanded goals are fourth on the franchise’s all-time list. Kreider's 48 playoff goals are the most in Rangers history, and his 326 regular-season goals trail franchise icons Gilbert (406) and Jean Ratelle (336) on the team’s all-time list,

But after a career-best 52 goals in 2021-22, and 36 and 39 goals the next two seasons, Kreider suffered through a disappointing, injury-riddled season in 2024-25. Hampered by an early-season back injury, a midseason virus that led to vertigo, and a late-season injury to his left hand, he scored 22 goals, with eight assists in 68 games.

At breakup day, Kreider was asked how much he wanted to return to the Rangers next season.

“I mean, this is home for me,’’ he said. “This is the organization that gave me an opportunity to live out my dream. I've developed so many incredible relationships and grown up and spent so much time in this area. So, obviously, this is where I want to be.’’

Moving Kreider opens a roster spot for a young player such as Gabe Perreault, Brett Berard or Brennan Othmann to make the club out of training camp.

Perhaps Kreider's most memorable game in a Rangers uniform came in Game 6 of the second-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes in 2024, when he scored a third-period hat trick to rally the Rangers from two goals down and send them to a 5-3 victory that advanced them into the Eastern Conference final. The Rangers had led the series, 3-0, but they lost Games 4 and 5, and were trailing 3-1 entering the third period of Game 6 before Kreider’s heroics rescued them.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.