Kreider Makes Welcome Return to Ducks After Battling 'Not Pleasant' Illness

A return home to Orange County is a welcome respite after a lengthy (but fruitful) five-game road trip, but the Ducks will get an extra boost with the return of one vital veteran.

Winger Chris Kreider is expected to be back in the lineup tonight vs. Detroit after missing the last four games of the trip with a case of hand-foot-and-mouth disease.

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He was sequestered to a hotel room and ultimately sent home while the team was still on the road "so I could start getting my legs back." The experience, Kreider said, was "Not fun. Not pleasant at all. No, it was terrible. I don't recommend it."

The Ducks still managed to go 3-1-1 on the trip, capped off by an impressive shootout victory over the defending champion Panthers in Florida three nights ago, while Kreider watched all of it from the other coast.

"It was awesome. I mean, they were flying around. Fantastic road trip," he said. "I mean, seven out of 10 points in any five-game span, especially a road trip, is phenomenal. So yeah, it was one thing that I enjoyed doing while I was locked in my room.

"It was weird being out that long and really not able to do anything. It's just a lot of twiddling in my thumbs," said the 34-year-old. "It just had to run its course. So nothing you can do, but sit there and feel awful.

Kreider was able to return to practice yesterday at Honda Center back at 100 percent health.

"I mean, to get back around the group to feel more like myself. Yeah. It makes you appreciate being helpful."

Kreider has been everything the Ducks could have hoped since acquiring him in June from the New York Rangers (along with a 2025 fourth-round pick) for center Carey Terrance and a 2025 third-round pick.

The two-time All-Star came to the Ducks having been one of six players to score at least 149 regular season and 24 playoff goals the last four seasons, joining Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Mikko Rantanen and Sam Reinhart. Kreider has scored 30 or more goals in three of the last four seasons while he has netted 20 or more goals in a season 10 times. Last year injuries limited him to just 68 games, but he still scored 22 goals for the Blueshirts.

Since the start of 2021-22, Kreider leads the NHL in shorthanded goals (13) and is fifth in power-play goals (58), one ahead of both Alex Ovechkin and Auston Matthews.

That power-play prowess was on full display right from the start in Anaheim, where his net-front presence on the man advantage got him three PP goals in his first three games, including two in a thrilling Home Opener victory over Pittsburgh.

Coach Joel Quenneville said this morning that while the Anaheim power play was still effective in Kreider's absence, his return will make a significant impact. "We get more of a complete look at what we'd really like to do, be a net-front team and get rewarded by going there," Quenneville said. "That's one of his strengths. He's got great hand-eye coordination with tipping and quick hands and loose pucks in that area. He certainly helps our power play ... He's back and we've got a good spot for him."

Kreider is a great fit for a Ducks team that has its sights set on re-emerging as a perennial playoff contender. The top goal scorer in Rangers playoff history, Kreider has 48 goals and 76 points in 123 career Stanley Cup Playoff games while helping the Rangers to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final and four Eastern Conference Finals (2014, 2015, 2021, 2024).

His veteran presence was evident almost immediately in Anaheim, and it's a major reason the team has gotten off to an impressive start in the season's first month.

"I think we like the style of play. I think we like the way that we've been skating, the way we've been getting up and down the ice," Kreider said yesterday. "Obviously [there are] some details stuff that we'd like to iron out, but I do think there's a lot of encouraging things and stuff to build on. Anytime we're winning hockey games, you see that much more fun."