Up there with some of the worst trades I've seen on here lmao. No way in hell conference rivals make trades like this.

Anyone can criticize without explaining. Let me try and break it down for you.
With the window to win a cup closing fast for the Rangers they make this deal because:
Chara provides the necessary leadership required to win and they believe he has one good year left in him.
While Krejci isnt Kreider he also has the leadership and cup experience to push the guys around him and proves to be a better asset than Nash. At the end of the day if it doesnt work they at least received a pick and decent prospects.

Boston had to give up two of their prospects to get Kreider. The contracts of Chara and Krejci, while not off setting Nash still retain money for acquiring two NHL defensemen, which they desperately need. They sell the big body and goal scoring ability of Nash to LA to get disgruntled Dustin Brown who plays like a man with something to prove, along with the stability of the underrated Klein and the steady Holden and hope it can push the B's back into the playoffs.

But this trade makes the Rangers significantly slower and the back end even worse. Your reasoning is sound, but this deal pretty much kills any hope of making the playoffs from a Rangers perspective. It also forces the Rangers to protect 4 D during the expansion draft, practically guaranteeing they lose young forwards, pushing any rebuild further back.

Agreed very bad trade