It was announced that Artmei Panarin would not be playing due to an upper-body injury. No other information was given regarding the injury. With that being said, Panarin cannot participate in the NHL All-Star Weekend.
Chris Kreider was then selected to take Panarins’ place for the All-Star Weekend.
Recently, there have been concerns surrounding Chris Kreider and whether the Rangers should trade him or keep him. The start of the season was slow for Kreider, but there has been a recent success for the forward. Kreider is 9 for 14 with goals in the last 14 games.
With Kreider playing well as of recent, fans questioned if the team should still make a trade. Teams like the Boston Bruins seem to have a strong interest in Kreider.
For the past few seasons, it seems like Kreider was in trade interest, but no moves were made.
This season felt like the time for a trade, but if Kreider keeps up the recent success maybe there won’t be.
Having Kreider on the team is positive. While there hasn’t been consistency in scoring the presence is still there. Kreider is fast and strong, which could be helpful considering the Rangers are now a very young team. The Rangers do have a few veterans in Mika Zibanejad and Marc Staal, but Kreider has an impact on being a veteran on this team as well. Kreider is still young but has been in the game for a long time.
From what it seems like, Kreider also gets along very well with the younger teammates and can speak to young Russian prospects this team has.
If Kreider keeps the scoring up and even starts getting more assists, the Rangers might consider not doing a trade. Having three veterans on the team isn’t a bad thing. Considering the majority of the Rangers are young, the team needs those few players that can teach and set an example.
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