The Rangers positioned left winger Chris Kreider on injured reserve Tuesday, studies Larry Brooks of the New York Post. The transfer is retroactive to his final look on Saturday in opposition to the Capitals. It guidelines him out for his or her subsequent three contests with an upper-body harm, together with Tuesday’s sport in opposition to the Stars and Thursday’s rivalry matchup with the Devils. They now have an open roster spot, which, as Brooks notes, may go to winger Matt Rempe after he was sent down Monday to make room for waiver declare Arthur Kaliyev.
As Colin Stephenson of Newsday factors out, doing so would imply Rempe serves the ultimate sport of his eight-game suspension for elbowing Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen Tuesday. He would then be accessible to re-enter the lineup for the New Jersey sport.
Kreider’s upper-body problem could also be recurring, partially explaining why the 6-foot-3 winger’s level manufacturing has fallen off a cliff this season. He additionally missed three video games with a UBI in November.
It’s unlucky timing for the 33-year-old, who was on a season-high three-game level streak earlier than exiting the lineup. After scoring the sport’s first purpose in a 7-4 loss to Washington, he sat out the next day’s 6-2 win over the Blackhawks.
Regardless of nonetheless seeing constant top-six utilization, Kreider has 15 factors in 34 video games this 12 months — simply 0.44 per sport. That will be the bottom charge of his 13-year profession other than a 23-game trial within the 2012-13 marketing campaign, his first style of NHL regular-season hockey.
13 of these 15 factors are targets, nonetheless placing him on tempo for a powerful 31 targets if he performed a full 82 video games. Nonetheless, that will be his worst whole for the reason that 2020-21 season, however his paltry two helpers on the 12 months.
Earlier than his harm, Kreider’s struggling second line, together with Mika Zibanejad and Reilly Smith, was starting to show issues round. The latter two even have lively three-game level streaks. In response to MoneyPuck, the trio has now managed 51.2% of anticipated targets on the 12 months after sitting under 50% via many of the early going.
Regardless of his struggles and trade rumors this season, Kreider nonetheless ranks second on the Blueshirts in targets behind Artemi Panarin’s 16 in 37 video games. Producing offense has been a difficulty general for the Rangers, who’re twenty first within the league at 2.90 targets per sport. That’s down sharply from final 12 months’s 3.39 mark, which positioned them seventh within the league amid a Presidents’ Trophy-winning season.
Kreider can return on Jan. 14 in opposition to the Avalanche if his well being permits.