That hadn’t been the case recently, though, at least not to most folks’ memory. Not until Peter Laviolette left the 33-year-old Kreider out of the lineup that faced the Devils on Monday, in the Rangers’ final game before the NHL’s holiday break.

The decision to sit the longest tenured Ranger comes amid the club’s 4-12 skid and free fall in the standings to sixth in the Metropolitan Division and 22nd in the NHL.

The New York Rangers made Chris Kreider a healthy scratch Monday in a blowout loss to the Devils, and Adam Proteau says the team erred significantly by disrespecting Kreider.

NEWARK, N.J. — Chris Kreider, the longest-tenured Rangers player, was a healthy scratch from the lineup Monday afternoon against the Devils in the final game before the NHL’s Christmas break.

Could this be the next domino to fall with the struggling New York Rangers? And after the volatile trade of former captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks and former No. 2 overall pick Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken,