Interest In Chris Kreider Increasing

There’s a ton of talk with the NHL holiday trade freeze now officially over. Perhaps getting more attention than any other player is the New York Rangers’ Chris Kreider.

On Saturday night, Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that at least four NHL teams are currently interested in acquiring Kreider, this despite speculation that the Rangers aren’t 100 percent sure they even want to move him.

During Saturday’s Headlines segment Friedman noted Kreider has become the No. 1 go-to option for a few teams now that Taylor Hall has been moved. He said, “All the contenders from Colorado to Boston to St. Louis to Pittsburgh are all believed to be interested in him.” It makes sense considering those same teams were looking at Hall because they were interested in boosting their offense with a short-term rental.

Kreider is also likely to be a rental. Currently making $4.625 million for the remainder of this season, he’s likely in line for a sizeable raise, speculated to be somewhere in the neigbourhood of $7 million on a long-term extension. Questions surrounded the Rangers and whether or not they were willing to fork over that kind of money as a rebuilding franchise but whispers are, they are considering doing just that.

Next: NHL Rumor: Rangers’ Chris Kreider Now Focus Of Trade Talks

Will Or Won’t The Rangers Trade Kreider?

What’s interesting here is that Friedman also added that the teams who are kicking tires are probably calling for a player who isn’t actually available. “Teams don’t believe right now that the Rangers have made [Kreider] available,” Friedman said. It appears for now, the Rangers are trying to gauge the market and find out, should they decide to move Kreider, just what they can get in return and how many options they’ll have at that time.

It sounds like quite a few.

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