New York Rangers‘ 5th year left wing Chris Kreider(20) has received a long-term commitment and nice pay bump from his draft team and only one he’s known in his pro career.
After his hot start in the 2012 playoffs following three years and two titles at Boston College, the power forward cooled off almost immediately heading into his rookie season.
He would spend the majority of his playing time in 2012/2013 with affiliate Connecticut Whale, where he didn’t exactly light it up scoring 12 goals and 11 assists with a woeful -11 rating.
To start his sophomore campaign he was once again reassigned to the farm team, renamed Hartford Wolf Pack and basically got right to work pocketing a pair of goals and assists in 6 AHL games before being recalled on a permanent basis.
It might have been the wake up call he needed as he would return and pocket 17 goals, 20 assists in 66 NHL games with a +14 rating in what was the final year of his entry level deal.
Once again, he had another strong postseason performance with 5 goals and 8 assists in 15 playoff contests, which definitely had to go a long way helping him secure a two-year extension.
In his last two campaigns he’s posted almost identical numbers with 21 goals and 20+ assists that equaled a pair of 40+ point seasons.
Looking at these stats for the recently turned 25-year old, it makes sense for the Blueshirts to tie him up for the next 4 years.
Chris Kreider(20) Connecticut Whale
New York Rangers‘ 1st round pick in the 2009 draft (#19 overall) left wing Chris Kreider(20) probably didn’t expect to be starting his rookie season in the AHL with Connecticut Whale after stepping into the Blueshirts’ Stanley Cup playoffs lineup for 18 games earning 5 goals and 2 assists on the stat sheet.
That doesn’t even take into consideration his Boston College Eagles winning a second national title in his senior year or the point per game effort he posted during the regular season to help them gain that glory.
We’re also leaving out the fact that his first goals during the playoffs were game-winners, a first by any player and he had the most goals by any skater joining a team before appearing in a single contest during regular season.
But that’s what a lockout can manifest for a young player more keen to be kept in close range of the big club to watch his development. Thank the CBA for those two-way entry level deals.
In 4 games with the Whale he only has a pair of assists on a team that’s surprisingly clawing for wins early in the 2012/2013 season.
Maybe he’s not quite giving it his full guns in the minors but if the NHL standoff continues look for him to regain the spark and start pressing for more scoring chances.