Rangers veterans lament ‘friend for life’ no longer teammate

To those on the outside, Barclay Goodrow being claimed on waivers by the San Jose Sharks this summer simply meant that the New York Rangers would save $3.64 million on the salary cap the next three seasons. Though that’s not an insignificant angle, there’s more to it for his former Blueshirts teammates.

“That’s a friend for life, a guy that you expected to be suiting up with again,” Chris Kreider explained at the Shoulder Check Showcase charity event for mental health last week in Stamford, Connecticut.

“Difficult to articulate,” Kreider twice said about his emotions regarding Goodrow’s departure.

With the Rangers pressed up against the salary cap this offseason, and even more so in 2025, general manager Chris Drury made the difficult decision to part ways with the respected veteran, alternate captain and two-time Stanley Cup champion. That he was one of New York’s best forward in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring six goals in 16 postseason games after netting four in 80 regular-season games, made the move sting he even more.

But Drury couldn’t justify paying the fourth-line center and penalty-killing specialist that much money, especially when he needed to re-sign Ryan Lindgren, Braden Schneider and Kaapo Kakko this offseason and wanted to add a top-six right wing. And that doesn’t even tap into what he faces next offseason when Igor Shesterkin is set to become an unrestricted free agent and Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller will need new contracts with substantial raises as RFAs with arbitration rights.

So, Drury bit the bullet, placed the 31-year-old on waivers and saw the Sharks pick him, up.

“When you’re in the position we’re in, there’s tough decisions as a GM you have to make,” Drury explained a few weeks after the move. “Everyone is well aware of what I think about Barclay.”

For Drury, though, hockey is a business. It’s his job to ice a Stanley Cup contender and do so within the restraints of the NHL salary cap. It’s not easy. It’s simply business.

“That’s the awful side of our business, I guess, and it is a business,” Kreider said. “Unfortunately, I’ve been on teams where you don’t expect a guy that you’re really close with to get moved and something happens like that.”

Related: Jacob Trouba ‘happy to be here’ with Rangers despite trade rumors

Rangers lost ‘big part of the team’ when Barclay Goodrow claimed on waivers

Behind the scenes, in the locker room, where it matters most, is where Goodrow made his greatest impact with the Rangers. A team leader pretty much from the time he walked through the door in the summer of 2021, Goodrow was a big reason the Rangers put together three straight 100-point seasons with him on the roster.

He also set NHL career highs with 13 goals and 33 points in 2021-22 and added 31 points the following season before his stats cratered in 2023-24. Yet, he remained an elite penalty killer, respected leader and, when it mattered most, a big-time playoff performer.

“A big part of the team, for sure. A friend,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba told The Athletic this week. Most guys would probably say the same thing about the kind of person he is and what he meant to the team.”

Trouba, of course, got a dose of the business side of hockey this summer, too. Drury looked to move the defenseman and his $8 million cap hit the next two seasons, only to have Trouba withhold his 15-team no-trade list until the final minute to scuttle any trade plans by the Rangers, including a rumored deal with his hometown Detroit Red Wings.

Unlike Goodrow, Trouba will be back this season with the Rangers, telling The Athletic “I’m happy to be here … excited to go into the season.”

But who knows what lies ahead for him or others on the roster. Decision await and big contracts need to be signed in the near future, all as the Blueshirts try to win their first Stanley Cup championship since 1994.

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