- Chris Kreider agreed to a one-year deal with Montreal on Saturday, two days after Anaheim terminated his contract
- Elliotte Friedman reports a $2.15 million AAV with up to $3 million more in performance bonuses
- Read below for why Habs fans have spent 12 years treating Kreider as the enemy
Montreal just signed the guy who ended Carey Price’s 2014 playoff run.
The Canadiens announced Saturday that they agreed to terms with Chris Kreider on a one-year contract for 2026-27, and the reaction in Quebec had very little to do with his hockey.
The team did not release the money, so Elliotte Friedman filled that in a few minutes later:
A $2.15 million cap hit with $3 million in bonuses attached is a low-risk swing on a 35-year-old who scored 22 goals last season.
Kreider only hit the open market on Thursday. Anaheim put him on unconditional waivers Sept. 9 and terminated his contract once he cleared, wiping a $6.5 million cap hit off the books to help pay Cutter Gauthier. Kreider left salary on the table to get out.
Then there is the part Montreal has not forgotten. In Game 1 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Final, Kreider lost an edge after contact with Alexei Emelin and slid into Price, and the knee injury knocked the Canadiens goalie out of the series. New York won it in six.
Twelve years later, he is on the payroll:
Whether the Bell Centre boos or shrugs is the most interesting subplot of Montreal’s camp, and the answer probably arrives the first time he touches the puck in a home preseason game.
Inside the building, he already knows people. Head coach Martin St. Louis was a Rangers teammate of his during that exact 2014 run, and president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton ran New York’s front office from 2015 to 2021.
The hockey case is real too. Kreider put up 50 points (22 goals, 28 assists) in 75 games with the Ducks last season, his sixth 50-point year, while averaging 17:03 a night. He has 348 goals and 632 points in 958 NHL games, 11 seasons of 20 or more goals, and a career-high 52 in 2021-22.
That fits what the Canadiens needed. They went 48-24-10 and reached the Eastern Conference Final before Carolina beat them in five, and the left side behind Cole Caufield stayed thin all year.
Kreider will get his look somewhere in the top nine, most likely on a scoring line alongside Ivan Demidov or on the third unit if Alex Newhook holds his playoff job.
The Canadiens spent the summer hunting a second-line center and landed the winger their fans have booed since 2014 instead.
