As most of you know, the New York Rangers signed former first round pick, Chris Kreider, yesterday…finally.
They've only been wanting to do it for three years while Kreider "wasted his time" at Boston College earning a degree (yes, he's graduating after just three years) and winning two national championships, not to mention a gold and a bronze at the World Junior Championship in 2010 & 2011.
Every time I mentioned him in an article, I'd be flooded with tweets and emails asking me when he'd sign and now that he has there is apparently some concern as to if he should play this post season or not. So here's the case for Chris Kreider.
The reason Kreider went to BC and the reason he stayed as long as he did was because he wanted to be as prepared as possible when he made the jump to the pros. He knew there'd be a transitional gap and he wanted to make sure it was as small as possible. If you read the
article I wrote back in the summer of 2010 you'd know that his invitation to play in the 2010 Men's World Championships upon the completion of his freshman season at BC was a gigantic wake up call and that as good as he thought he was, there was still plenty of work to be done before he went pro.
The mere thought of going up against Ovechkin had Team USA advanced to the medal rounds was enough to make him realize he wasn't ready and several of the NHLers there - including his roommate Jack Johnson - told him to stay in school as long as possible because you can never get that time back. So when he got back from Germany, he hit the weights and the books hard and set off on the mission to make himself as physically, emotionally and mentally ready to go pro as possible and decided that when the time was right, he - and only he - would make that decision. He wasn't going to back down or be persuaded into doing something that he knew in his heart wasn't the right move for him.
Now that everyone is in agreement that he's ready to sign on the dotted line, everyone that matters - Rangers management - is also in agreement that Kreider is ready for the NHL. He's not your average college player. He's 6'3 and 225 pounds with tree trunks for legs who is fast, agile, skilled, has great vision, knows how to use the body and, perhaps most importantly, wants to get better. He's very coachable and wants to contribute to whatever team he's on in whatever way the coach wants. He is also unlike most college players because he's actually played against professionals with his two years of experience wearing the red, white and blue at the World Championship and don't forget, last summer before classes started at BC, he spent the better part of two weeks at the Rangers' training facility playing pick-up and practicing with the guys as they started to trickle into town. He is no stranger to what it takes to be an NHL player.
Would I toss him in the lineup for Game 1 against Ottawa tomorrow night? Absolutely not. I think he needs a practice or two or three or four to get the systems down in order for him to be effective, but should there be an injury down the road or someone not playing up to par, as Rangers management, I'd have no problem putting him in the line up. That said, just being around the team at a time like this is an education in and of itself and they might be perfectly happy with that and send him off to Helsinki for his third appearance at the World Championship regardless of what happens in the post season.
No matter what happens though, Kreider will be ready. He's been working the past three seasons at BC to be in the best position possible for this opportunity and he is certain to make the most of it.
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