Chris Kreider a surprise scratch when the Rangers visit the Devils

On By Littum

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NEWARK – In their ongoing and so far fruitless search for answers, the Rangers are going to the next extreme.

Chris Kreider, the team’s longest tenured player, will not play in Monday afternoon’s game against the rival Devils.

The 33-year-old forward did not warm up with the Blueshirts prior to puck drop at the Prudential Center, a sure sign that he is on his way out of the lineup.

Some thought it could have been the result of a sore back that has troubled him in recent weeks, which already cost him three games last month. But he is healthy enough to play, a person with knowledge of the situation told lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, indicating this was a performance-based decision.

The healthy scratch is the latest desperate attempt to motivate a sputtering group that has lost 12 of its last 16 to crash out of a playoff spot — and perhaps the most surprising yet.

On the surface, one could look at the 6-foot-3, 230-pound 11 targets and determine that he has been quite productive. But only two of those numbers have come at five-on-five, with Kreider being a non-factor all season and he’s been stuck at one total assist through 30 games, which seems hard to do for a player who regularly plays in the top six and at no. 1 power-play unit. His 43.75% xGF ranks last among New York skaters who have appeared in at least 20 games, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Those struggles have intensified in recent weeks, with Kreider registering just one point — an empty netter in Friday’s 3-1 win at Dallas — in his last eight games. The Rangers have gone 2-6 in the period in which the no. 20 records the team’s third-lowest even strength ice time (8:04) in Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

It all coincided with Kreider being bandied about in trade talks. Team president Chris Drury specifically named him in a memo sent to all 31 opposing general managers last month, and while the franchise’s third all-time leading scorer has tried to keep his focus on the ice, Drury’s tactics have made waves inside. the dressing room.

The NHL is in the midst of a holiday roster freeze that prevents teams from trading or waiving players until just after midnight Saturday, so don’t take Monday’s decision as a sign that something is imminent. But Kreider being openly traded tells you all you need to know about the current fragile state of the Rangers.

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the one New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more about his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.