Another blow was landed upon the New York Rangers’ miserable season when the team placed struggling star forward Chris Kreider on injured reserve Tuesday, retroactive to Jan. 5.
Kreider sat out the Rangers’ win on Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks while he continued to deal with what is perceived to be a lingering back issue. It was the second game he missed out of New York’s previous six, though he was listed as a healthy scratch on Dec. 23 against the New Jersey Devils. He had missed three games in November due to back spasms.
The 33-year-old forward has not been impervious to the Rangers’ season-long struggles. After posting 30-plus goals in each of the last three seasons, Kreider has just 13 goals and two assists in 34 games this year.
His struggles have been so bad that his name has cropped up in trade talks, which have been seemingly ceaseless since November. General manager Chris Drury jettisoned former captain and defenseman Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks before sending former No. 2 overall pick Kaapo Kakko, who was an unnecessary healthy scratch in mid-December and made his displeasure known, to the Seattle Kraken.
The Rangers have called up the controversial forward Matt Rempe in Kreider’s place. He will have to serve the final game of an eight-game suspension on Tuesday night against the Dallas Stars but could draw back into the lineup against the Devils on Thursday.
Kreider’s absence heaps further bad news on a Blueshirts squad that has been lost for the better part of the last seven weeks. After starting the season 12-4-1 and looking very much like the team that made the Eastern Conference Final last season, the Rangers are 6-16-0 in their last 22 games. To make matters worse, star goaltender Igor Shesterkin has been on injured reserve with an upper-body injury that held him out of New York’s previous three games.
Kcassman