Rangers president John Davidson said a deal with the 28-year-old forward was finalized Monday morning. Kreider is in the last season of a four-year contract and could have become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
"When you do the pluses and minuses, the pluses certainly outweigh any of the minuses," Davidson said. "We're excited about Chris. He plays well with [center] Mika [Zibanejad]. It's a speed game. He's got power. He's been healthy his whole career. There's a lot of good things to think about."
Kreider, who did not practice Monday because of an illness, has 45 points (24 goals, 21 assists) in 60 games this season, including 32 points (18 goals, 14 assists) in 32 games since Dec. 8.
The Rangers (33-24-4) are six points behind the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They have won three games in a row and seven of eight.
"He's a unique player, very hard to replace," Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist said of Kreider. "I think it's definitely the right decision to lock him up. He's been having a great year. I think he's developing to be an even better player now, more consistent and the type of leader that you need in the locker room. It's definitely good news for everyone."
Davidson credited Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton and Kreider's agent, Matt Keator, for staying in constant dialogue over a period of several weeks.
"Everything had to fit, though," Davidson said. "If it didn't make sense to us, we would have had to move in a different direction."
That would have been to trade Kreider, which Gorton said the Rangers were prepared to do before the 2020 NHL Trade Deadline on Monday if they couldn't come to an agreement. Gorton said he's thrilled it never came to that.
"Look at what he's doing, his emergence, and we feel like he's still getting better," Gorton said. "His size, his skating, his scoring ability, the combination he has with Mika, his power play ability. When you add it all up, it's a player that we've had in the organization for a long time we've watched the strides he's been making. When you weigh all the options, and having him leave versus keeping him, it became more evident that we want to keep him."