Following a disappointing 2024-25 season, the New York Rangers are making big changes. They have traded scoring winger Chris Kreider to the Anaheim Ducks, a rebuilding club hoping to take a big step forward in 2025-26.
As part of the deal, the Rangers are sending Kreider to the Ducks in exchange for prospect Carey Terrance. The trade also involves a draft pick swap featuring mid-round selections.
NHL Playoffs 2025: Stanley Cup Final schedule, bracket, scores, as Panthers blowout Oilers in Game 3
Austin Nivison
In his 13 seasons with the Rangers, Kreider worked his way up the franchise record books. He ranks third all-time in career goals (326) and first in career playoff goals (48). From 2021-2024, Kreider bucked the aging curve and scored 127 goals, which ranked seventh in the NHL over that span.
However, Kreider finally fell off a cliff last season. At the age of 33, Kreider scored just 22 goals and tallied just 30 points in 68 games. Looking to make some changes this summer, Rangers general manager Chris Drury decided to part ways with Kredier and his $6.5 million cap hit for the next two seasons.
The Ducks, on the other hand, are a team that has been wandering in the wilderness since 2018. They haven’t made the playoffs since then, and their rebuild has been a slow one. General manager Pat Verbeek is trying to expedite the process as more prospects reach the NHL level, but was this the right way to do it?
Let’s take a look at how each side made out in this trade, with the knowledge that the final judgement can’t truly be made until a few years from now.
The trade
Ducks receive
- LW Chris Kreider
- 2025 fourth-round pick
Rangers receive
- C Carey Terrance
- 2025 third-round pick
The grades
Anaheim Ducks
Not only have the Ducks missed the playoffs in each of the last seven seasons, but they haven’t even finished above .500 once in that span. The silver lining about those struggles is that Anaheim has been able to stock its prospect pool with premium selections in the draft. This past season, some of those prospects began to flash. Mason McTavish, Leo Carlsson, Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov have all shown some promise.
Those young players need some help around them, so Verbeek added Kreider at a very low acquisition cost. I just wonder whether this is an efficient use of resources for the Ducks. Kreider is now 34 years old, and he’s coming off the worst full season of his entire career. Not only was his production poor, but his five-on-five impacts also left a lot to be desired. How much better will Anaheim be with Kreider in the mix? There may be some improvements on the power play, but I can’t see him making a big impact outside of that.
The $6.5 million cap hit isn’t a huge concern for the Ducks because they still have more than $32 million with which to work, but there’s still an opportunity cost associated with taking on all of Kreider’s money. Making a free agency splash or being aggressive on the trade market gets at least a little bit harder now.
I’m just having a hard time seeing Anaheim’s vision with this move. Kreider is a player who is clearly on the backend of his career, and I wonder how much he can really help this roster. It would make more sense for the Ducks to target young players who are either entering or currently in their prime. Is it possible Kreider bounces back under Joel Quenneville? Sure, but he’s still not a long-term solution. At least it wasn’t expensive to acquire him. Grade — C
New York Rangers
Chris Drury wanted to free up some money and move off a veteran player on the decline. Mission accomplished. The Rangers couldn’t afford to run it back with the same group, and that made Kreider an obvious trade candidate. New York now has a little more room to revamp its roster for new coach Mike Sullivan.
In terms of the return, The Athletic draft expert Scott Wheeler ranked Terrance as Anaheim’s No. 8 prospect last summer. In 2024-25, Terrance totaled 20 goals and 19 assists in 45 games with the OHL’s Eerie Otters. If Terrance is able to reach the NHL and make an impact for the Rangers, that would be gravy.
This was a salary cap dump on the part of the Rangers, and they wound up with a mid-level prospect and the better draft pick. Not a bad day at the office for Drury. He just needs to use his newfound financial freedom wisely. Grade — B+
