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New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider. Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Are the New York Rangers still looking to make moves?

By Jarrod Prosser | Last updated Dec 14, 2024 7:25 AM ET

Is Chris Drury still in an axe-swingin’ mood?

The New York Rangers general manager has already moved Jacob Trouba and reportedly mentioned stalwart winger Chris Kreider as available for the right offer. With the Rangers still mired in a horrid slump, let’s examine who Drury might move to try and shake up his chargers.

The longest serving Ranger, Kreider, has three years left on a very tradable $6.5M deal. Whilst he’s on track to score around 30-35 goals, Kreider’s solitary assist (He’s never been a big helper guy, but sheesh!) through 25 games is embarrassing.

Kreider’s still a handful in the crease and arguably the NHL’s best at redirections, but practically every other facet of his game has fallen away this campaign. Aged 33, is Drury cutting bait before his star falls off a cliff?

NHL Trade Talk's Jim Parsons recently opined on the possibility of a K’Andre Miller trade. Even 12 months ago, the thought of New York moving on from Miller seemed unfathomable. Huge, powerful, a swift skater and armed with a cannon, Miller and Adam Fox were the Rangers' defensemen of the next decade.

This season, even before the Rangers began to swoon, Miller has looked entirely disengaged. He is on track to record the lowest point and hit totals of his five-year career, though the eye test is even worse. He’s a giant unit with wings for feet, yet he rarely, if ever, lays an opponent out. He’s routinely beaten in the corners and the slot in his own zone. His positioning is often woeful, and his lack of urgency is galling.

Watch as Miller mishandles a straightforward pass and compounds his error by turning and watching, rather than hustling back to prevent the two-on-one from which Chicago scores their eventual game winner:

A pending RFA, Miller will want a lot more than his current $3.87M deal. Right now, that demand is made purely on potential rather than performance.

It’s clear now that Kaapo Kakko was drafted too high. That said, the 2019 second overall pick with the boy-you-would-take-home-to-mother face has proven to be an excellent defensive winger and has shown marked improvement in five-on-five after last season’s horrible year.

On a one-year "show me" deal, Kakko has, in a sea of inconsistency, been amongst the Rangers' most reliable skaters. He, alongside Filip Chytil and budding star Will Cuylle, did not concede a five-on-five goal until game 19 of the season.

Kakko will likely never be the perennial 30-goal scorer the Rangers envisioned, but does his current form and strong defensive play, plus a budding skillset as a playmaker — he’s on course for a career high in points — make him more likely to be re-signed or add to his trade value?

Lastly, we come to Ryan Lindgren. The 26-year-old is revered in the locker room and a cult hero to the Garden faithful. Despite his less-than-ideal size, Lindgren’s aggressive style of play allows longtime partner Fox to poke, probe and manipulate to his heart's content.

Is that physical style beginning to take its toll? Lindgren is a lock to miss time every season, only twice appearing in over 65 games through his career. This season he looks more than a step off the pace. Have those knocks and bumps worn him down? A pending UFA, it is expected that Lindgren would demand something close to his current $4.5M per season. If that is too much for Drury to stomach, expect a trade.

We’re still quite a way from the trade deadline. If the Rangers prove unable to bust out of their current tailspin, expect Drury to be a very busy boy.

Jarrod Prosser

Jarrod is a basketball lifer and has the knees to prove it. A former player, coach, trainer, scout and administrator, Jarrod has extensive and intimate knowledge of everything that happens on the hardwood. He has covered the NBA since 2018 for publications in the USA and his native Australia

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