The Rangers are still squarely in playoff position after last season’s Presidents’ Trophy win, placing third in the Metropolitan Division with a .658 points percentage and a 12-6-1 record. Their 5-on-5 play remains an issue, though, and their subpar shot-attempt and scoring chance shares came to a head Saturday after they allowed 40 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Oilers.
Rangers general manager Chris Drury was evidently so disturbed by their back-to-back losses against the Flames and Oilers in Alberta that he’s “made it very clear they are interested in making moves and shaking up their roster,” Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports Monday. Captain Jacob Trouba is being dangled as trade bait once again after the club aggressively tried to work out a trade for him over the summer, while star winger and lifelong Ranger Chris Kreider has also been made available, Friedman said.
They’re not the only names being considered in moves – assumedly, some cheaper and less consequential pieces could easily be leveraged along with futures for short-term upgrades. However, the fact that Drury is even considering leveraging Kreider, a lifelong Ranger with two years left on his contract, indicates quickly growing panic in New York about their skaters’ underlying play despite their 108-point pace.
Kreider is second on the Blueshirts with nine goals in 19 games but has inexplicably yet to record an assist despite even-strength linemates Mika Zibanejad and Reilly Smith combining for seven goals. He won’t play tonight against the Blues, but it’s not a trade-related scratch – he’s banged up and dealing with an upper-body injury.
After years of Kreider and Zibanejad being some of the Rangers’ most consistent players, they’ve struggled to generate much of anything at even strength. Their trio with Smith, acquired from the Penguins in an offseason trade, has generated just 2.69 expected goals per 60 minutes – the worst among the five Rangers forward combinations with at least 50 minutes together this season, per MoneyPuck. That would be at least passable if they weren’t also allowing 2.85 xG against per hour, the highest mark among those five combos.
Kreider has appeared in 834 regular-season games for the Rangers since they drafted him 19th overall in 2009, ranking third in franchise history with 313 goals and 10th with 561 points. He’s been an invaluable playoff performer for them in recent years, racking up 24 goals and 37 points in 43…
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