Player Discussion Chris Kreider

[Crease]

Kreider is going to catch Ratelle (crazy to see that written). Question is will he catch Gilbert.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

 

[McRanger92]

When the ink is dry it will be Gilbert/Kreider as the 2 greatest homegrown forwards in the teams history.

 

[ecemleafs]

I know a couple of beat writers are going around slandering CK20 right now, being 3rd on the all-time goal list for the Rangers, being "KreIders gOal ToTAl is lOw FOr an OrIgINal SiX FrANCHIse" but for reference, he is (third is in parenthesis):

10th Bruins (9th 289, Pasta/Marchand ahead)
10th Wings (8th is 314, 7th is 324)
9th Leafs (can easily get Top 6 - Auston Matthews is not helping this)
9th Habs (Henri Richard 8th at 358)
8th Blackhawks (Top 7 is 299)

TFW you're a non-NYR fan slandering a player who would be top 10 in your franchise.

3 of our best scorers also played in a low scoring era with significantly fewer games played. the cooks and boucher.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I remember how excited I was when we drafted him, the draft pundits compared him to Mogilny. That comparison never materialized but I'm not complaining! What Ovechkin was for one timers on the PP, Kreider is for tip ins.

 

[mrhockey193195]

When the ink is dry it will be Gilbert/Kreider as the 2 greatest homegrown forwards in the teams history.

Bathgate and Boucher.

 

[Mike in Houston]

When the ink is dry it will be Gilbert/Kreider as the 2 greatest homegrown forwards in the teams history.

Not too shabby for a ghost right?

Have. You. Seen. Chris?

 

[McRanger92]

Bathgate and Boucher.

Kreider would’ve scored 1000 goals if he played when those guys did

 

[Riche16]

Not too shabby for a ghost right?

Have. You. Seen. Chris?

Let's not do the revisionist history.

As great as he is / has been...

He has disappeared for stretches. Sometimes long ones. To his credit not as much later in his career.

 

[NickyFotiu]

As much as I like CK I do not have him at a level of the Leetchs, Gilberts, Ratelles or Bathgates in NYR history.

I have CK more near the top of a grouping of guys like Hadfield and Graves. Might even include guys like Hedberg in that grouping.

 

[sbjnyc]

What's weird for CK as a top franchise goal scorer is he didn't hit 30 goals until he turned 30.

 

[JimmyG89]

Congrats on #300. Feel like we've been through it all with Kreider. The ups and downs, but he's pretty consistent at the end of the day.

Loved it when he threw the puck on the ice after it being overruled the first time.

When he breaks Gilbert's record, it'll be massive. I don't know if he stays with the organization after he hangs them up, but he should.

He's this generations Graves. Just missing one piece of the mantle that I hope is handled in June.

 

[Mike in Houston]

Great feature on Chris in The Athletic. I wish some fans would appreciate who he is like the players who took time to talk about him clearly do.

Chris Kreider's path to 300 goals: Games of fetch, fun summers and lots of time in front of the net

Current and former teammates weigh in on their view from Chris Kreider's journey to 300 goals.

theathletic.com

 

[alkurtz]

Been a Rangers fan for over 60 years (yikes!). When I was a young fan Gilbert was my favorite player. He too was young, talented, and with a great future. I think we all understand that young fans relate to young players. That is perfectly understandable. Rod remains, along with Mess, Leetch, Mess, and Henrik, my favorite players. But there is something you need to understand: back in those days (I was a season ticket holder in the old blues seats throughout the Francis era) there was, obviously no boards, no social media, and as popular as the Rangers were becoming, little media presence compared to other sports. Aside from fans complaining among themselves at games, players were free from external analysis (and of course, there was no analytics). If there was then, what we have now, Gilbert would have been subject to the same spotlight we shine on players today. As great as he was, I always thought of him as somewhat of an underachiever, who had the occasional down season, especially at the start of his career (although he suffered from chronic back issues). If whe look at the record, he too did not have his first 30 goal season until age 29, And, as for his linemate, Jean Ratelle, Ratelle was sent down repeatedly to the AHL for year after year until he established himself. The point I am trying to make is that some are just too harsh in their criticism of CK. As a Ranger fan for all these years, I can say that he has become one of my favorite players too. Perfect? Of course not. But in every respect, this guy has been an all-time great Ranger, worthy of respect and honor. Like all players, when he is done, memories of him will grow over time; the bad will be forgotten and the good remembered. I have enormous admiration and respect for CK: fine player, leader, and model for young players to emulate, and mentor. I doubt that he will catch Rod, but Ratelle, most likely. We should all appreciate this guy while he is still here.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Been a Rangers fan for over 60 years (yikes!). When I was a young fan Gilbert was my favorite player. He too was young, talented, and with a great future. I think we all understand that young fans relate to young players. That is perfectly understandable. Rod remains, along with Mess, Leetch, Mess, and Henrik, my favorite players. But there is something you need to understand: back in those days (I was a season ticket holder in the old blues seats throughout the Francis era) there was, obviously no boards, no social media, and as popular as the Rangers were becoming, little media presence compared to other sports. Aside from fans complaining among themselves at games, players were free from external analysis (and of course, there was no analytics). If there was then, what we have now, Gilbert would have been subject to the same spotlight we shine on players today. As great as he was, I always thought of him as somewhat of an underachiever, who had the occasional down season, especially at the start of his career (although he suffered from chronic back issues). If whe look at the record, he too did not have his first 30 goal season until age 29, And, as for his linemate, Jean Ratelle, Ratelle was sent down repeatedly to the AHL for year after year until he established himself. The point I am trying to make is that some are just too harsh in their criticism of CK. As a Ranger fan for all these years, I can say that he has become one of my favorite players too. Perfect? Of course not. But in every respect, this guy has been an all-time great Ranger, worthy of respect and honor. Like all players, when he is done, memories of him will grow over time; the bad will be forgotten and the good remembered. I have enormous admiration and respect for CK: fine player, leader, and model for young players to emulate, and mentor. I doubt that he will catch Rod, but Ratelle, most likely. We should all appreciate this guy while he is still here.

CK has had a very good career. He often does not get the type of recognition that he deserves a a Ranger. With that said its hard to compare him to Rod and Ratelle. Those two had hall of fame careers.

 

[jay from jersey]

quite a milestone. Think about how many more goals he would have in his mid-late 20s if he was as good at finishing on breakaways as he’s become now???
Not only is he a physical specimen, but he’s one of the top guys in front of the net in the league….
Not just the deflections, but the screens as well…..
He takes a beating playing that position. He’s really matured into a complete winger later in his career.
I hold a special place for homegrown guys we draft, and kreids deserves all the accolades he gets.
He’s been rock steady for us

 

[haohmaru]

CK has had a very good career. He often does not get the type of recognition that he deserves a a Ranger. With that said its hard to compare him to Rod and Ratelle. Those two had hall of fame careers.

Yeah, he's not on that level. Still, if/when he finishes his career here, he's going up in the rafters for sure. Hopefully he can win a Cup and cement that legacy.

It's a shame that Hank didn't have a team like this in front of him. Loved some of those teams but, man, they just couldn't score goals.

 

[Leonardo87]

Congrats Chris on 300!

 

[NickyFotiu]

Cool article on CK scoring his 300th goal in the Athletic.

Got to luv Zooks.

Mats Zuccarello — 38 assists​

What makes Kreider so unique: “I mean, in front of the net, he’s probably best in the league. They’ve got a good power play of course, he’s playing with good players and he’s a good player too. It’s impressive. Too bad I got traded or he would have gotten (to 300) faster.”
Favorite Kreider memory: “I just remember him coming in from college (in 2012), a big kid, strong. I remember him getting his arms rubbed out (by the massage therapist) after his first practice because he wasn’t used to shooting so many pucks and I’m thinking, ‘Who is this kid?’ [Note: Brian Boyle recalled that same moment, adding that longtime Rangers trainer Jim Ramsay called out to Boyle to “Get a hold of your BC boy!”]
“He turned out to be a great guy, good friend and we have lots of good memories from the years we played together. I’m really happy for him and I hope he keeps it going.”

What is Vince speaking about? I want to know!

Vincent Trocheck — 17 assists​

Favorite Kreider memory: “There’s one that goes back to one of his first years here, I wasn’t here but I love hearing it. Him and J.T. Miller got called into (Alain Vigneault’s) office for something… I can’t say more, but it is top-notch.”

Chris Kreider's path to 300 goals: Games of fetch, fun summers and lots of time in front of the net

Current and former teammates weigh in on their view from Chris Kreider's journey to 300 goals.

theathletic.com

 

[Mike in Houston]

Twelve years ago today in 2012, Chris was signed to his first NHL contract. And according to some of youse, it's been all downhill since.

 

[Captain Lindy]

If my math is correct, which I am clueless at, CK gets a goal every 2.66 games. That's not too shabby for a "ghost".

 

[mrhockey193195]

As much as I like CK I do not have him at a level of the Leetchs, Gilberts, Ratelles or Bathgates in NYR history.

I have CK more near the top of a grouping of guys like Hadfield and Graves. Might even include guys like Hedberg in that grouping.

I love Chris. He is also a friend of a friend, so I have an extra level of bias. He will likely go down as a top 30, maybe even top 20 Ranger in history. And that is a massive compliment. We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that we are a ~100 year old franchise. Legends have worn our sweater pretty much every decade since our inception.

As an organization, we do a great job of recognizing our history back to the 70s - the era of the GAG line, Park, & Giacomin. It was like pulling teeth to get MSG to even go back one decade earlier into the 60s, when we had arguably the best player in franchise history (Bathgate). Let alone the 3+ decades that preceded that where we won 3 of our 4 cups. Boucher (my personal #1 in franchise history), Cook, Cook, Seibert, Dillon, Johnson, Hextall, Dave Kerr, Gump Worsley, etc. The list is not nearly as deep as Montreal or Detroit, probably not as deep as Chicago, Boston, or Toronto either, but it is still quite long, and we're remiss for ignoring it.

 

[mrhockey193195]

WIthout giving it too much thought, off the top of my head this is roughly my tiering:

Tier 1/Mount Rushmore: Boucher, Bathgate, Leetch, Lundqvist
Tier 2: Bill Cook, Johnson, Gilbert, Park, Giacomin, Ratelle, Messier, Richter
Tier 3: Bun Cook, Seibert, Hextall, Worsley, Howell, Vanbiesbrouck, Graves, Jagr, Panarin, Fox, Shesterkin, etc.
Tier 4: Kerr, Laprade, Dillon, Hadfield, Greschner, Gretzky, McDonagh, Kreider, etc.

I'm sure I'm missing half a dozen players in each of tier 3 and 4, but that's the rough idea. I think Kreider can easily jump into tier 3 (if he isn't already there), which puts him in the top 20-ish conversation for sure.

 

[Mandar]

WIthout giving it too much thought, off the top of my head this is roughly my tiering:

Tier 1/Mount Rushmore: Boucher, Bathgate, Leetch, Lundqvist
Tier 2: Bill Cook, Johnson, Gilbert, Park, Giacomin, Ratelle, Messier, Richter
Tier 3: Bun Cook, Seibert, Hextall, Worsley, Howell, Vanbiesbrouck, Graves, Jagr, Panarin, Fox, Shesterkin, etc.
Tier 4: Kerr, Laprade, Dillon, Hadfield, Greschner, Gretzky, McDonagh, Kreider, etc.

I'm sure I'm missing half a dozen players in each of tier 3 and 4, but that's the rough idea. I think Kreider can easily jump into tier 3 (if he isn't already there), which puts him in the top 20-ish conversation for sure.

I tihnk you have a really good list there. I would switch Gilbert and Bathgate....but thats a fine line too.

I think I would put Kreder in Tier 3

 

[mrhockey193195]

I tihnk you have a really good list there. I would switch Gilbert and Bathgate....but thats a fine line too.

I think I would put Kreder in Tier 3

Totally reasonable. The more I look at it, the more I think Kreider is already Tier 3 as well.

A bunch of players are missing from tier 3 and 4. In particular, I didn't do a great job of capturing guys with short but super impactful tenures. I've got Siebert, Gretzky, and Jagr, but I left out Espo, Doug Harvey, Zubov. Even guys like Hedberg, Nilsson, Pavelich, Gartner, Gaborik, Nash (the horror!), etc. might find themselves challenging for tier 4.