IRVINE — Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba have been key assets for the Ducks, but not long ago they had for-sale signs dangling around their necks.
They began last season as the New York Rangers’ longest-tenured player and captain, respectively, but each started this campaign in the opposite corner of the country. On Monday, they’ll return to Midtown Manhattan for the first time since Trouba was dealt last December and Kreider was shipped out over the summer.
The low point was a Nov. 24, 2024, memo from Rangers GM Chris Drury that let all 31 competing NHL franchises know that he was looking to blow up their successful leadership group.
Prior to that communiqué, the Rangers were 12-6-1. They had been among the NHL’s elite, amassing a .688 points percentage across the prior season to the start of last year as well as a .673 clip over three campaigns and change that included two conference finals runs. Since the memo? They’ve amassed a more meager .500 mark, 25th of 32 teams. Meanwhile, the Ducks, currently in second place, have spent much of 2025-26 atop the Pacific Division.
For Trouba, 2024-25 was particularly trying, leading a dressing room filled with dispirited players, many of whom had uncertain futures. That included himself and Kreider, both of whom played through injuries last season and still arrived at an unanticipated impasse.
“Last year’s kind of a blur. The difference? He doesn’t have the weight of the world on his shoulders,” said Kreider of Trouba. “It’s an incredibly hard thing to be the captain in that city. It’s an incredible honor … There’s a lot of responsibility that goes along with that. And I think being able to come out here and just play without worrying about some of those things might make it a little bit easier.”
Trouba said that the Rangers acting as though they were foisting him upon the Ducks –– they threatened him with waivers and upon completion of the trade he said it was a “rite of passage to be fired from MSG” –– was “heartbreaking,” and, along with injury issues, made it difficult to turn the page immediately.
But he’s had a resurgent season, leading Ducks defensemen in plus-minus rating and goals. Kreider is on pace to catapult his total above his substandard-for-him 22 tallies last season, when he battled back spasms, a broken hand and more.
Today, Kreider and Trouba live on the same street. Their families intermingle. They carpool. Former Rangers teammates Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano have made them feel welcome and even helped sell them on waiving trade protection to join the Ducks.
“We spend a lot of time together, we live close to each other, we drive to practice and games together,” Trouba said. “We’re having fun on the ice and smiling, I just think we’re a little more relaxed being out of the pressure or whatever you want to call it. We’re just having a lot more fun.”
Kreider, who began his career with the Rangers in 2012-13 and never played for another club until this season, said he expected the “massive, passionate fanbase” in New York to serenade their former captain with “Troooooooooubs” calls.
For Trouba’s part, he hoped that the all-situations player Kreider who scored goals in the clutch, on the power play and copiously overall would be the focus of their return.
“Honestly, I hope going back is more about Chris and his time there,” Trouba said. “He was there a lot longer than I was and, in the record books, he’s up high on a lot of lists for a lot of franchise records. … I hope he gets an extremely warm welcome.”
As Kreider pointed out repeatedly, Monday’s game was one of five on the road trip and, above all, an opportunity to earn two points in the standings. The Ducks did just that when they started the journey in Pittsburgh with a miraculous victory, but were then handled by the New York Islanders and undermanned New Jersey Devils.
They haven’t converted on their last 19 road power plays, and since Nov. 29, only Vancouver has a worse overall man-advantage performance than the Ducks. Despite wholesale changes to the coaching staff — only assistant Tim Army remained as four new coaches were hired — special teams continue to be an issue. The Ducks’ penalty kill has been the fifth least effective in the NHL this season.
Yet there’s no question that the lights and cameras have been on Kreider and Trouba during their sojourn in the New York metro area, which will conclude fittingly at Madison Square Garden.
Kreider had a laugh with the Anaheim press corps last week, all three reporters on hand a year to the day after Trouba was traded, about the media scrutiny that awaited in the Big Apple. Both he and Trouba said that despite any jarring developments or hurtful moments in the buildup to their respective escapes from New York, there was an abundance of gratitude and appreciation that overrode any negativity.
“It’d be arrogant to try to predict what’s going to happen next year, next month, next week, next day, like, you don’t know. So just take it all in stride,” Kreider said. “Good things happen for a reason, and I’m happy in this situation I’m in currently. Hopefully going there will give me an opportunity to see some friends, some family, some former teammates and put two points up there.”