Leetch enjoying Kreider's emergence for Rangers

Brian Leetch shares his thoughts on Rangers winger Chris Kreider with The New York Post.

“He skates with the speed of like a smaller guy, like a Bure, or a Selanne when he first came in, that quick burst and damn, he’s gone,” Leetch said. “But he’s 230 pounds, and you watched … guys are mad at him for falling into Price and taking him out, but there’s only a couple of guys on that team that can actually take a run at him and not feel the effects of trying to run into him.

“He’s a big man, and his shot and his release are excellent, and this year’s been a big breakthrough for him confidence-wise too, about how to play a game, and what he can do in the NHL and where he belongs.”

What's been the difference in Kreider's game?

“Before, in the last couple of years, he would not demand position in front of the net,” Leetch said. “He’d come in and out, and he’d try and make a play or get open. But now he knows he can stand in there physically, and he can score goals around the net as well as off the wing. It’s been fun to watch. You never know when guys have talent, and they have everything.

“We’ve all seen in every sport whether certain times they click or whether they don’t and then you don’t make that transition. But it’s been fun to watch him this year make the jump.”

Source: Steve Serby, New York Post