When the Rangers’ longest-tenured player, Chris Kreider, was suddenly sidelined the day after his name was mentioned in president and general manager Chris Drury’s league-wide memo eliciting trade

Kreider, who is dealing with back spasms, said he has spoken to GM Chris Drury about recent trade rumors but declined to characterize the conversation.

A sneaky move from Chris Kreider may have been designed to block a trade from the Rangers. Earlier this week I covered the shocking report that the New York Rangers were making serious attempts at trading two of the biggest names on their roster, and it sounds like at least one of those players may not be willing to go down quietly.