The New York Post reports that the New York Rangers have re-signed restricted free agent Chris Kreider to a four-year, $18.5MM deal. The contract has an annual hit of $4.625MM. According to the report, it also buys out two years of his unrestricted free agency. Rangers beat writer Larry Brooks tweets that Kreider insisted on a four-year deal instead of five. Brooks also reports that it lowered the financial side of the deal, saving some cap room for New York.
The Rangers and Kreider agreed to the deal prior to the scheduled arbitration meeting at 9AM. Last season, Kreider had 43 points (21-22) in 79 games. In five playoff games, he had two goals.
The signing ensures another young forward strengthening the Rangers’ future writes James O’Brien. O’Brien notes that only Rick Nash (32) and Tanner Glass (32) are above age 30, while the younger core of Kreider, Derek Stepan, newly acquired Mika Zibanejad, Kevin Hayes, Mats Zuccarello, and J.T. Miller are all under 28. Only Zuccarello and Stepan are over 25.