The Montreal Canadiens did what nobody thought was on the table. When Chris Kreider mutually terminated his contract with the Anaheim Ducks, the expectation was that his desire was to come back out east. He is a Massachusetts native, played his college hockey at Boston College, and he spent most of his career with the New York Rangers. He was exiled from the Rangers when they wanted to focus on new blood, and he was sent to the Anaheim Ducks.
When Kreider became a free agent, a few interesting teams came up. A return to the Rangers was considered by fans, but no reports suggested he considered it. In fact, the focus seemed to be on playoff teams.
With his long-time connection to Boston, many thought they were the leader, but the Philadelphia Flyers were also discussed. In the end, Kreider went to the team with which he had a dark history.
In fact, there probably isn’t a team that hates him more than the Canadiens. Not the Devils. Not the Islanders. Not the Flyers or any of the Rangers' biggest rivals. When Kreider went barreling into Carey Price in the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals.
Clearly, some things are bigger than rivalries.
Chris Kreider chose the Montreal Canadiens because he thinks they are Stanley Cup contenders
The Canadiens made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. They were two series away from winning Canada’s first Stanley Cup since they won it back in 1993. With how young this roster is, and all the players signed to long-term contracts, the Canadiens are expected to be competitive for a long time.
However, with the Carolina Hurricanes still looking strong, the Tampa Bay Lightning still star-studded, and the Florida Panthers expected to return to form with Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk returning to full healthy (along with the addition of Brady Tkachuk), the Canadiens were still considered by some to be a year or two away.
The Canadiens are not a year or two away according to Kreider. Signing the contract that he did (a one-year deal worth almost half of the salary he was making in Anaheim) shows what he thinks of this roster.
And Kreider adds that playoff element the Canadiens need to focus their efforts on. He has 50 career playoff goals, and just last season, he had seven points in 12 playoff games for the Ducks. He’s not capable of being a point-per-game player anymore, but he contributes a ton to a team, especially on the power play.
Whether Kreider is right is yet to be seen, but he shows that players on the outside look at the Canadiens differently after he signed a one-year deal north of the border.
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