Ducks Welcome Chris Kreider with Dominant Preseason Win

The 34-year-old forward was traded back in June in a trade that left many Blueshirt fans aghast. The Rangers received forward prospect Carey Terrance and a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. New York also sent a fourth-round pick in 2025 to Anaheim.

The Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville instantly looked at the league veteran joining the roster as an advantage; Kreider was instantly placed on the top line.

Kreider is a 10-time 20-goal scorer, and while seeing 16:39 TOI against Utah is his debut as a Duck, each line scored at least one goal. 2024 draft pick (No. 3 overall) — Beckett Sennecke, who shared line duties with Kreider throughout the night — said playing alongside him gives him a distinct advantage.

"Obviously they're two pretty big players," Sennecke said in the locker room postgame. "Just being able to get the reps with them and learn all things on the bench from them is a huge advantage for me."

He also saw one hit and was seen mixing it up with the Mammoth's Jarome Iginla’s son, Tij Iginla.

The Ducks concluded their first game with Kreider on the roster with a whopping 6-1 win.

"Chris Kreider is the type of player we were looking to add this offseason," Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said at the time of acquiring Kreider. "He has size (6'3", 230 pounds), speed and is a clutch performer that elevates his game in big moments. Chris also upgrades both of our special teams units, something we really needed to address."

The Ducks (35-37-10) finished last season sixth in the Pacific Division, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh straight year. Anaheim was 16 points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card from the Western Conference but improved by 21 points from 2023-24. Quenneville replaced head coach Greg Cronin in May, and Kreider was added to the roster just one month later.

Clearly, his impact has been instant on the Ducks — with Rangers and Ducks fans hoping it only continues.