Why Rangers fans should celebrate polarizing Chris Kreider

To be an all-time great for an Original Six franchise is to be NHL royalty. Kreider is probably not a Hall of Fame candidate. But he should be welcomed back to Madison Square Garden with open arms. He should be celebrated and beloved in nearly as an unflinching a manner as Rangers fans celebrate Lundqvist. 

In his final season with the Rangers, Kreider had a rocky relationship with their fans and the organization. 

Off to a 12-6-1 start this season, the nearly 100-year-old franchise suffered some of its most embarrassing performances amid the circus that followed the leaked leaguewide memo that GM Chris Drury had issued about his willingness to trade team captain Jacob Trouba (which he did in December) and longest-tenured Ranger Kreider.

Kreider joining Trouba in Anaheim may soften the blow for the player, but this is likely a painful divorce. The New York Post and ESPN reported Kreider had Anaheim on his modified no-trade list. PuckPedia, a free website that tracks NHL salary-cap information, indicated Kreider could have blocked trades to 15 teams. 

Kreider suffered back and hand injuries this season and a bout with vertigo. He also was subject of nonstop trade rumors while playing for a team whose morale fell into the gutter following a league worst 4-15-0 stretch in the seven weeks following the memo leak. But Kreider's terrible final season with the Rangers is not how their fans should remember him.

They should think of the 6-foot-3 bowling ball whose tremendous skating speed and power gave the Rangers a weapon few teams had when he broke into the league in 2012. They should remember the force of nature who helped dominate the difficult areas in the 2014 Eastern Conference Final.

They should also remember that after Kreider recovered from a frightening blood clot, he reinvented himself at 30 as a net-front terror because of his elite hand-eye coordination. This led to a career-best 52 goals during the 2021-22 season as the new-look Rangers ended their playoff drought and made a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Final.

They should remember how he was part of one of the greatest Rangers power plays in history and his otherworldly hat trick in the third period to clinch the game and 2024 Eastern Conference semifinal against Carolina.

Kreider wasn't perfect. He likely isn't a Hall of Famer. But Rangers fans should celebrate his accomplishments as one of the great power forwards of the 21st century.