Chris Kreider was back on a sheet of ice in New York on Thursday morning but in no mood to reminisce.
“Just game day against the Islanders, man,” said Kreider, the longtime Rangers forward now playing for the Ducks, when asked about his pending return to Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
That night against the Rangers will have been circled on the calendar not just for Kreider but also for Jacob Trouba, who also will face the Blueshirts for the first time since he was dealt in the middle of last season.
Trouba, the Rangers’ former captain, wasn’t in the dressing room after an optional skate for Anaheim on Thursday morning.
Both players were victims of the Rangers’ reshuffling that occurred both during and after a catastrophic 2024-25 season in which they missed the playoffs with a 39-36-7 record following an Eastern Conference Final berth the previous season.
The Rangers intended to trade Trouba in summer 2024 but held off as he didn’t want to uproot his family while his wife, Dr. Kelly Tyson-Trouba, was still completing her three-year residency at a hospital in New York.
The public nature of the situation over the summer, though, seemed to affect Trouba’s play, and he was moved to Anaheim last December for Urho Vaakanainen and a fourth-round pick.
Kreider, a Ranger for 13 years whose No. 20 seemed destined for the MSG rafters, followed him out West in a deal that netted the Rangers a third-round pick and prospect Carey Terrance.
“Obviously, I had an extended summer to let it sink in and certain brush points that allowed me to adjust,” said Kreider, whose natural hat trick propelled the Blueshirts to the Eastern Conference Final in 2024. “Going out there for the first time, eventually moving out there. I think the biggest thing is how great the organization has been, how great the players have been. It’s definitely made it easier.”
If nothing else, the 34-year-old Kreider has proven he has plenty left in the tank this season. Through Anaheim’s first 26 games, Kreider had 13 goals and eight assists for 21 points — just nine behind his season-long total a year ago.
The Ducks, who brought a 19-10-1 record to Long Island, lead the Pacific Division and have been one of the surprise stories of the season with a 23-and-under core including Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke, Mason McTavish and Olen Zellweger.
“It’s exciting,” former Islander Ross Johnston said. “You see new guys come in, you see young guys that have been here for two, three years, accepting roles that maybe when I first came in they weren’t necessarily ready for. But they’re ready for those positions now.
“The talent we have to score goals mixed with the veteran stuff. Some games still get away from us. We have to figure out how to lock a lead down. But that being said, those guys have accepted roles, and it’s helping our team win right now.”
The Ducks play all three tri-state area teams on this trip, going to New Jersey on Saturday between games at the Islanders on Thursday night and at the Rangers on Monday. It’s not clear what sort of reception Trouba will get at his first game back at The Garden, but it is sure to be an emotional occasion for Kreider, who made his NHL debut for the Rangers in the 2012 playoffs at age 20, straight out of Boston College.
He had no intention of divulging those emotions Thursday, though.
“Business trip,” said Kreider, who was scoreless in the Ducks’ 5-2 loss to the Islanders on Thursday night at UBS Arena. “Good result in Pittsburgh [a 4-3 win Tuesday night] but not a great process for our group. So we want to be better.”
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