Avalanche reportedly interested in Chris Kreider

On “Hockey Night in Canada’s” “Headlines” segment last night, ace reporter Elliotte Friedman said the Avalanche was one of a handful of NHL teams interested in potential New York Rangers rental Chris Kreider.

(Watch the full segment here).

My views on a potential Kreider addition, plus some of what I’ve heard about the situation:

I’ve always liked Kreider as a player and think he’d look good in an Avs uniform. Here’s the “problem”: He’s a top-six left winger. If you get him, that means you’re committed to playing him on the top six, which means Andre Burakovsky loses his job as a top-six guy, and I don’t think he deserves that.

Granted, Burakovsky is in a slump at the moment, with zero points in his last five games. But he’s still put up 13 goals and 24 points in 36 games. Chris Kreider has 11 goals and 24 points in 38 games for the Rangers, and he’s been getting more ice time, as a top-line left wing on a line with Mika Zibanejad. Kreider averages 17:01 per game, while Burky has been averaging 14:56.

It’s the same kind of conundrum with Kreider that existed with the whole Taylor Hall thing. I just don’t think top-six forward, offensive talent is what the Avs most lack right now.

That said, Kreider is probably a bit of a more well-rounded player than Burakovsky. He’s probably a bit better of a grinder along the boards, maybe a bit stronger in front of the net and he’s definitely a bigger hitter than Burakovsky. Last season, Kreider was credited with 159 hits for the Rangers. Burakovsky had 35 with the Capitals.

So, I like the grit/sandpaper factor Kreider would bring to the team. He’s also a proven 50-plus point guy in this league, and he’s still just 28. I like him as a potential addition, but I’m not wild about Burakovsky being a third-line guy, partially because I think he only flourishes when he plays with more talented players. I think he’d get lost in the bottom six and not be very effective. You want hard-checking, defensive-minded players on your bottom six, and No. 95 isn’t quite that type of player.

Maybe Joonas Donskoi could drop to the third line and that might not be such a bad compromise, should a Kreider come to the team, but he wouldn’t really deserve that kind of a demotion either. Yet, I think he’d be better able to adapt to a third-line role than Burakovsky would.

OK, so the next question: what do you give up to get a Kreider? He’s a potential UFA, and those guys always make me nervous when it comes to what you give up to get them.

Kreider is an eastern guy, from Massachusetts, who has played his whole career with the Rangers and reportedly loves living in New York. Would he really sign a long-term deal with the Avalanche? And, would he make any sense long-term, given that the Avs have good top-six forwards already and will have a tougher cap situation starting next season?

The tea leaves would seem to suggest that Kreider would be just a rental, plain and simple. Of course, the Rangers are going to want to get the most they can for him, so you have to start with the assumption that they’d want, at the minimum, Colorado’s first-round pick in next year’s draft.

Or, maybe a second-rounder (Avs don’t have their own second-rounder this year though, but, hey, maybe the Rangers take one in 2021? Yeah, probably not) and a prospect. Which prospect, though? Assuming Bo Byram, Conor Timmins and Alex Newhook are untouchable, could it be a Shane Bowers? A Martin Kaut? I mean, you’d have to think the Rangers would ask for someone like that.

Personally, I wouldn’t give up either a Bowers or a Kaut for a Kreider. I just don’t love rental trades, in general. History shows they rarely work, and teams almost always regret losing those prospects in the end.

Then again, Chris Kreider would improve this team for the short term, and add an element that probably is lacking somewhat, which is physicality up front. Let’s say the Rangers would do the deal straight up for the Avs’ first-rounder in 2020? I might think about that. Maybe I’d throw in a fourth-rounder too, something like that.

It figures to be a late-round pick, and the Avs do have a pretty good stockpile of recent high picks in the system already.

As for what I’ve heard on this – yeah, I think the Avs have been scouting the Rangers a bit, and will continue to keep doing so. It won’t hurt that the Avs will play the Rangers in a couple weeks in New York.

Let’s all keep an eye on this moving forward…