Sportsnet Insider revealed Rangers veteran is tampering with potential trades during team crisis

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Ryan Hall
November 30, 2024 (9:44)

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32 Thoughts Podcaster and Sportsnet Insider Elliotte Friedman explained to the fan base that Rangers star Chris Kreider had done an unusual move as the team is currently mired in crisis and the trade winds blowing hard in the New York area.

Friedman stated that Kreider had told several teams that have been interested of his current injury that he is battling especially in detail. Friedman was bothered by this and stated that this is very rare for a player to do.

I thought the thing that was really interesting was that he detailed his injuries," said Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast. It's very rare in this day and age when you have a player come right out and say 'This is what's bothering me and this is the issue.

He went on to say that this tactic may be a way for Kreider to remain a New York Ranger by scaring off other teams to stay.

Another player said to me it was kind of like Kreider was saying 'Buyer beware this is what you're dealing with,' said Friedman. Another player took it to mean that Kreider doesn't want to go anywhere. He loves being a Ranger, his family is happy being Rangers and he's really secure in the community.

He took it as 'This is your warning that this is what you're dealing with if you try to trade for me'" said Friedman of his NHL player source. I thought that was a really interesting theory.

The last few weeks for the Rangers have been terrible as the team continues to flounder in the standings and are barely hanging on to a playoff spot.

It seems that everything that can go wrong has gone wrong for the Rangers as they were once the best team in the NHL last year and went to the Eastern Conference final against the Florida Panthers.

General manager Chris Drury made it clear that he was not pleased with his team and how it's performed recently and decided to make it public that he placed several of their key core players up for trade including Jacob Trouba, Chris Kreider, Kaapo Kakko and defenseman K'Andre Miller.

Whether this is an effort to shake the tree and get players to buy back into the system that worked so well last year, it's clear that Drury is itching to make a change it will come down to the players and the coaching staff to make that case that this would be the wrong approach.