The New York Rangers and Chris Kreider reached a last minute
settlement on a four year, 18.5 million-dollar contract avoiding an arbitration
hearing on Friday.
Kreider, 25, put up 21 goals and 22 assists in 79 games with
the Blueshirts last season, matching his career high from the season before. In
New York’s five postseason games, he found the back of the net twice.
Through four seasons with the Rangers, the forward has
scored 61 goals and 68 assists, with 224 penalty minutes in 248 regular season
games. In 65 Stanley Cup Playoff games, he has put up 20 goals and 13 assists.
At a charity tennis event hosted by teammate Dominic Moore, an
unrestricted free agent, Kreider said, “I
hope I am just scratching the surface. I am of the mindset that I am trying to
get better every single day. I guess if you are not to improving, there is no
point of doing it.”
This is not the first time that Kreider and the Rangers
avoided a hearing at the last minute, his last contract was agreed to on July
23, 2014, the same day as his hearing that offseason.
He said, “I guess it
is just part of the process. You can’t let the business side of things frustrate
you.”
Kreider was the third Ranger to avoid a hearing with the
club this summer, as J.T. Miller and Dylan McIlrath recently agreed to new
deals in the nick of time as well. Not long after announcing the deal with
Kreider, the Rangers also announced that Kevin Hayes avoid his arbitration
hearing, scheduled for July 27, by signing a new deal with the team too.
The deal Hayes signed is said to be a two-year contract
worth around 2.6 million per season. The 24-year-old forward scored 14 goals
and 22 assists in 79 games with New York during the 2015-2016 season.
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