Former Ranger Brian Leetch compares Chris Kreider to hockey legends Bure and Selanne

As a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and a Stanley Cup champion with the New York Rangers in 1994, former defenseman Brian Leetch knows a thing or two about what it takes to succeed at the NHL level. 

In watching the 2014 playoffs, he certainly likes what he sees in 23-year-old Rangers forward Chris Kreider.

“He skates with the speed of like a smaller guy, like a [Pavel] Bure, or a [Teemu] Selanne when he first came in, that quick burst and damn, he’s gone,” Leetch told the New York Post. “He’s a big man, and his shot and his release are excellent, and this year’s been a big breakthrough for him confidence-wise too, about how to play a game, and what he can do in the NHL and where he belongs.”

Leetch added Kreider has made a "big difference" since returning to the lineup from injury, citing a positive domino effect benefiting the rest of the forward group. 

He also credits Kreider's net presence as a factor in his impact on the team.

“Before, in the last couple of years, he would not demand position in front of the net,” Leetch said. “He’d come in and out, and he’d try and make a play or get open. But now he knows he can stand in there physically, and he can score goals around the net as well as off the wing. It’s been fun to watch. You never know when guys have talent, and they have everything."

Kreider is averaging close to a point per game for the Rangers in the playoffs, with three goals and three assists in seven games, and it appears as though the 19th overall pick in 2009 is finally putting it all together - in Leetch's eyes, at least.

“We’ve all seen in every sport whether certain times they click or whether they don’t and then you don’t make that transition," Leetch said. "But it’s been fun to watch him this year make the jump.”