Is This Chris Kreider’s Last Week as a BC Eagle?

The subject of Chris Kreider’s future to Boston College hockey is becoming a big topic of discussion these days, much like Luke Kuechly’s future with Eagles football towards the end of his junior year. Kreider, some believe, will mimic the likely first-rounder and leave school once Boston College hockey’s season is done — this, for people living under a rock, means within the next week, one way or another. Will he bail or will he play his senior year?

Clearly, nobody has the answer to that question right now, and Kreider himself might not even know yet. That doesn’t mean that the media isn’t talking about it, however, and it recently became known that Kreider would be eligible to suit up for the New York Rangers in their upcoming postseason run. Indeed, it is becoming somewhat of an expectation that both he and fellow junior NHL possession Brian Dumoulin are history as soon as the 2011-12 season is.

This is not an unreasonable statement. After all, many thought that Kreider would not even last at Boston College this long, but Rangers fans were disappointed to hear his 2011 announcement that he would return for his junior year. Likewise, Carolina Hurricanes fans were forced to wait for Dumoulin for at least another season. Still, there is recent historical precedent for the best players on BC (read: wanted NHL prospects) putting in three seasons and then hanging up the maroon and gold for good. Just last year, Cam Atkinson and Jimmy Hayes bailed after their third season, and Nate Gerbe felt the lure of the National Hockey League following his junior year as well. Several years before that, Boston College also saw Cory Schneider leave Chestnut Hill after year three.

Perhaps Kreider (and Dumoulin, for that matter) will stay and see this thing through for one more season. If you forced me to make a guess, however, I would say that it’s likely we’re watching their final game — or two — in a Boston College uniform. If that is the case, it will be sad to see them move on, pleasing to see them move on with one more championship if that’s what fate holds, and reassuring to know that Boston College hockey is stacked and will survive their departures.