Kreider still has 'pit in my stomach' about Rangers' playoff exit

New York Rangers veteran Chris Kreider still feels the heartbreak of his club's first-round defeat at the hands of the New Jersey Devils this past spring.

The Blueshirts jumped out to a 2-0 series lead, but lost four of the next five to their Metropolitan Division rivals.

"Like every guy on the team, I've got a pit in my stomach still and I expect that to turn into a bit of a chip on everyone's shoulders," Kreider told NHL.com's Dan Rosen.

"We thought we had a good group. I still think we had a good group and we should have done better. We all know that."

The Rangers loaded up for a deep run in the 2023 playoffs, acquiring Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko in separate trades. The postseason failure came one year after reaching the Eastern Conference Final and led to the firing of head coach Gerard Gallant, who was replaced by Peter Laviolette.

Kreider is optimistic that a new voice behind the bench will help the Rangers rebound in 2023-24.

"My impression is that his teams have always been very hard to play against," Kreider said. "I recently remember the Washington team, but even with some of those Nashville teams, incredibly hard to play against."

On top of the coaching change, the Rangers brought in Blake Wheeler, Nick Bonino, Erik Gustafsson, and Jonathan Quick on one-year deals in free agency.

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