Reason for the LA Kings to not trade for Chris Kreider: Declining Production
While there are plenty of positives or reasons to do a trade like this, there are reasons for concerns. One of those concerns has to be a decline in production this season with only 11 goals and one assist through 30 games for the Rangers. While he has seen a dip in his goals, the 11 goals on the season would rank fourth on this Los Angeles Kings team.
The question that Rob Blake will have to answer, and he won't know until after the trade is made, is whether or not the drop in production is due to an aging player (he is currently 33 years old) or due more to the overall struggles of the New York Rangers. After a great start, the Rangers have been a disaster and currently are in 7th place of the Metropolitan Division.
I tend to lean more to the struggles of the Rangers as a whole impacting the performance because without Kreider in the lineup, the Rangers were not competitive at all against the Devils and lost 5-0 on Monday.