The New York Rangers have traded Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks within the past year. While Rangers GM Chris Drury has successfully created salary cap space, not everyone has loved his process. In November, Drury placed Kreider and Trouba on the trade block, and that news came out soon after. An anonymous general manager spoke with Peter Baugh, Arthur Staple, and Katie Strang of The Athletic and bashed that move.

‘You just don’t do that. ‘You’re basically dropping a bomb in your room in the middle of the season.” A Western Conference GM texted that to The Athletic immediately after the trade block story dropped.

Trouba was traded to the Ducks within a few days of the trade block news. But that was not a smooth operation, either. The Rangers threatened to put the captain on waivers if he did not accept the trade to Anaheim. He eventually did, but it did not leave the Rangers players with a great taste in their mouths. Fast forward to June, and Kreider is gone too.

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In the same story, Kreider said that the Rangers were “really respectful” in the trade process this summer. His agents were able to scope out a viable landing spot and landed on the Ducks. They cited new coach Joel Quenneville and a commitment to winning as reasons Anaheim was a good fit.

While Kreider was a big loss, there could be more trades in the works this offseason for the Rangers. According to CapWages, they have over $16 million in cap space after the Kreider trade. Despite that, they could still make more moves to clear space and go after the biggest fish in free agency. Mitch Marner is looking for a new team, which could change the entire Eastern Conference.

The Rangers pick 12th in the NHL Entry Draft, which starts next Friday.