Over the past few months much has been written about Rangers
2009 first round pick Chris Kreider and whether he will or won’t leave Boston
College this summer to sign with the New York Rangers. Everything that has been said to this point
suggested the Rangers will attempt to bring him into the fold even if to play
for the Connecticut Whale in the AHL next season. The hesitation appears to have been more on
the side of Kreider himself. According
to John Connelly at the Boston
Herald that might be changing as Kreider is considering leaving Boston
College for the Rangers.
In the past few days both Cam Atkinson and Jimmy Hayes left
BC early to sign with their respective NHL clubs. Those moves might make it easier for Kreider
to do the same based on the level of talent that will be left in the program
next season. The question remains though
if Kreider is really ready to make the transition from college to the pros.
There are those who say he might be bored with the college
game and that is a possibility, but if it is so easy for him you would think he
would put up better numbers than 11 goals and 12 assists in 37 games. Those stats do not speak to domination or
even Kreider coming close to tapping the potential he has at this point. For those who throw out the Derek Stepan
comparison you have to realize the utter differential in the way the two
performed in college and have reasonable expectations both for Kreider’s
performance next season and whether he should leave at all. In 41 games last season Stepan had 12 goals
and 42 assists for an average of 1.32 points per game while Kreider was at .62
this season.
Personally I would rather see him stay at BC for another
season and work on his game in a great program where he is likely to be the
main focus of the offense next year instead of forcing him into the
professional ranks early and looking to “fix” the issues with his game. College hockey is certainly a place where he
can develop. The biggest negative being
that he will not be preparing for the grind of the long professional season with
the shorter schedule, but if it improves his game and ability to be an impact
player down the road it is still the right move.
