Chris Kreider doesn't believe the sky is falling on the New York Rangers despite a rocky run of play and trade rumors disrupting the dressing room.
"I think it's pretty obvious there’s frustration, angst, tension," Kreider told the New York Post's Mollie Walker. "Good. We're 20 games in. Let's go through this shit now and figure out who we are. We had the best regular season in the history of an Original Six franchise last year, won a Presidents' Trophy and didn't go as far as we would've liked. We're getting exposed right now. Our warts are out there, and teams are picking on the things we don’t do well. And we've gotten away from the things we do do well."
The Rangers set a franchise record with 114 points last season, but were beat convincingly by the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final. New York entered the campaign expected to compete for a Stanley Cup again, but has dropped to a wild-card spot with a modest 6-5-0 November.
"We don't necessarily know what this is right now, right?" Kreider said. "This could just be part of the story. We look back at this and say, 'This made us better.'"
Recent poor play has reportedly caused general manager Chris Drury to make it known the Rangers are open for a core-shaking trade. Kreider and captain Jacob Trouba are among the names on the block.
Kreider is the longest-tenured Ranger on the roster at 13 seasons. He's managed nine goals in 19 games this season and was recently sidelined by a back injury.
The 33-year-old is adamant the trade chatter hasn't got to him.
"Shouldn't trivialize someone's feelings, but how you feel doesn't affect your ability to do something that you've done for the entirety of your life - unless you let it," he said.
