A trade from Thursday afternoon sent New York Rangers legend Chris Kreider and a 4th-round pick to the Anaheim Ducks for a 3rd-rounder and prospect Carey Terrance.
With Mitch Marner all but gone, the Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves with a hole to fill in their top six. While Kreider is no Marner, he would be a welcome addition to the Leafs roster, and he would've been acquired for a reasonable package.
The Toronto Maple Leafs need guys who can score, and Kreider can sure do that. We'll see how he does in Anaheim next year, but letting Kreider slip may be a mistake that'll be tough to overcome.
Chris Kreider heads to Ducks: A missed bargain for Maple Leafs
Kreider is 34, being paid $6.5 million, and coming off an abysmal season where he registered only 30 points. On paper, he doesn't look like much, but Kreider is just one season removed from a 39-goal, 75-point season, and from 2022-2024, he averaged 42 goals a season.
Scoring goals has been the Leafs kryptonite in the playoffs, especially in big games. The team hasn't scored more than one goal in a single do-or-die game since 2018, and adding Kreider, who has a knack for scoring in big games, could help out in that area.
Not only is Kreider the Rangers' all-time leading goal scorer in the playoffs, he also has three goals in his last three game 7s. As well as a natural hat-trick in the 2024 second round to knock out the Carolina Hurricanes. Imagine how many playoff rounds the Leafs could have with a guy like that on their team.
If that's not clutch, I don't know what is.
The downside of Kreider is that of course he is 34, and may never get back to his former glory. But even if he puts up 25-30 goals and 45-50 points, that's a win in my books, especially if the Leafs gave up a similar package to what the Ducks did.
Kreider is also being paid $6.5 million for the next two years, which is always risky for a guy his age. But if he were to falter in year one, he could always be moved or even bought out for year two.
There are clear risks of course, but giving up minimal assets for a guy with the upside of Kreider would've been a great move for the Leafs.
We'll never know how good he could've been on Toronto, but not trading for Kreider could be a mistake that'll haunt the Leafs all season.