By: Mike Rifkin
Three weeks ago, the New York Rangers fired General Manager Jeff Gorton and President of Hockey Operations John Davidson. They just got hired to do the same job for the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he left to take over the Rangers. Owner James Dolan cited that this season was a disappointment because the Rangers missed the playoffs. Assistant General Manager and former Rangers captain Chris Drury has assumed the role of General Manager and President with input from former President Glen Sather.
After some time to think, Drury and company decided to fire coach David Quinn, who in his three seasons behind the bench went 96-87-25. This season the Rangers finished in 5th place in the MassMutual East Division, arguably the hardest in the NHL.
In February of 2018, the Rangers brass put out a letter signaling to fans that times were going to change and they were going to rebuild the team, telling fans to have patience. The fans embraced this because the Rangers were making smart hockey and business decisions.
The most challenging part of this whole rebuild was this past offseason when the Rangers had to buy out future Hall of Fame goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who once retires will see his number 30 hang in the Rafters of Madison Square Garden. Gorton and Davidson had them on the right track faster than most people believed. Out were guys like Rick Nash, Ryan Mcdonagh, Derek Stepan, etc.… In coming Norris finalist Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Artemi Panarin (who took less money to be a Ranger), Ryan Strome. Two years ago, the franchise was aided, got the number 2 pick in the draft lottery, and selected Kappo Kakko, and last year won the lottery and selected Alexis Lafreniere. Two players who saw their game grow a lot in a year with no training camp or preseason.
There are two things to see if Chris Drury is running the show or if he is just a puppet for Dolan and Sather.
The first is the coach, so Quinn came with no NHL coaching experience, so I expect them to hire a guy with experience. To me, the name that makes the most sense would be Gerard Gallant, who they already interviewed. Another that makes sense would be Rick Tocchet, formerly of the Coyotes. The name that if they were to hire that would make you question Drury would be bringing back John Tortorella because he was already the coach, and it wouldn’t make as much sense. The other thing is to see if the Rangers add a star like Sabres Center Jack Eichel, who has expressed displeasure with his current team but has not been asked to be traded yet. Yes, Eichel is a young star, but at what point do you say that is too much and will not be giving that up. The Rangers have a lot of good young talent either at the NHL level, or that is playing junior or in the minor league, but is it worth it to subside everything Gorton and Davidson did to add one player when the Rangers aren’t one player away from winning the Stanley Cup?
As we run through the Spring and get to the Summer, every Ranger fan will watch what Chris Drury does very closely to see if he is running the show. Either way, Ranger fans should thank Gorton and Davidson for what they did for this organization.
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