LAS VEGAS — Chris Kreider, at age 30, has realized that self-validation is all he needs. With that realization, the Rangers winger has seemingly evolved into the most confident version of himself.

Participating in an All-Star weekend for the second time in his 10-year career, Kreider admitted that this one feels a little bit more special due to the fact that it was his first outright selection, as opposed to two years ago, when he replaced an injured Artemi Panarin.

This season, Kreider was a no-brainer. This season, he has been impossible to ignore as he has gone toe-to-toe with the NHL’s top scorers, before ultimately taking the lead with his 32nd and 33rd goals of the season heading into this break. This season, he earned his spot.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Kreider after scoring his first goal for the Metro Division in the All-Star game championship tilt, a 5-3 win over the Central on Saturday. “I was saying earlier how over the last couple years with all the COVID stuff, normally able to see guys potentially on the road that you might’ve played with or known. Haven’t really been able to do that, so to have this reprieve in the middle of the season to catch up with guys, it’s a breath of fresh air.”

Kreider has exuded a sort of unshakable confidence this season that he hasn’t had throughout his tenure in New York. It has not only fueled his own personal game, but also has been contagious for his Rangers teammates. And his self-assurance has been on full display in Las Vegas.

From the way Kreider, as expected, deflected the All-Star spotlight onto his team’s success rather than his individual success, to the way he expressed how much he wished his teammates, Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox, could be with him this weekend, he has never lost sight of being a team-first player.

Still, this is a weekend about celebrating individual accolades. After he finished in third place ahead of Oilers star Connor McDavid in the fastest skater competition, Kreider caused even more of a stir when he pulled off a notable move on Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy in the save streak competition.

Kreider finessed Tampa Bay winger Nikita Kucherov’s signature move, in which he faked the shot and slid the puck five-hole, to make for an all-around entertaining scenario. The shot was coined by Kucherov back in March 2017, when he used the high-skilled move in a shootout against then-Sabres goalie Robin Lehner.

“I figured, Tampa Bay goalie, try the ‘Kuch’ move on him, just for fun,” Kreider said after the skills competition at T-Mobile Arena on Friday. “It worked out. It’s something that we mess around with after practice. That’s what this is all about right, having fun? So I figured I’d try it.”

Naturally, pulling off such a move on one of the best goaltenders in the NHL drew some attention. Naturally, Kreider downplayed it.

“I think I did it better than I normally do it,” he quipped.

The rest of the All-Stars have experienced first-hand what makes Kreider so effective on offense, so the longest-tenured Ranger received a stern assignment from his Metropolitan Division captain Claude Giroux ahead of the big games on Saturday.

“My captain already told me if I’m not around the net that I’m not going to be playing,” Kreider said before the game. “So I got to make sure to get to the blue paint or else Claude is going to glue me to the bench.”