New York Rangers roundtable: Do you believe in Jeff Gorton?
The New York Rangers’ front office has a huge offseason in front of them. How much confidence does the Blue Line Station team have in Jeff Gorton?
The future of the New York Rangers depends on how this offseason is handled by general manager Jeff Gorton and his front office. After having a fire sale at the trade deadline, demolishing the old core of the team that led them to three Eastern Conference Finals appearances and on Stanley Cup Final appearance, the front office will look to build a new winning core that could do the one thing the previous core couldn’t: win a Stanley Cup.
Getting there isn’t going to be an easy road and lots of Rangers fans have some form of trepidation going into the journey. Is this front office going to be able to pull it off? We will find out soon enough.
Our team here at Blue Line Station had a lot of thoughts on this subject. Do they trust Jeff Gorton, or will he exhibit ineptitude that will set the Rangers back for years to come?
John Williams
I am nervous for how the offseason will be handled by general manager Jeff Gorton and his staff. The thing is, I think I’d feel this way regardless of who the GM was.
This offseason could either right the New York Rangers’ ship quickly or throw us into a cycle on mediocrity for years. Based on his track record, Gorton has, for the most part, been able to make the correct decisions.
When it comes to free agency, I think Gorton has done a great job. Two years ago, he found Michael Grabner and signed him to a cheap, two-year deal. This year, he got Kevin Shattenkirk to take a home town discount to play on Broadway.
On the trade front, I thought the McDonagh trade left a little bit to be desired but Brett Howden, one of the pieces they picked up in the trade, has been tearing up the WHL. I thought the Grabner and Nash trades were flawless and, back to last offseason, while the Stepan trade wasn’t ideal, I don’t think it was nearly as bad as people make it out to be at times.
Must read: The difference between a retool and a rebuild
This offseason is going to come down to draft picks. The Rangers can’t be reaching with that early first rounder. They need to take the most skilled player, regardless of position, with that pick. That’s my only worry with this front office right now.
My other concern is that, in an interview with Michael Kay and Don LaGreca, Gorton noted that while the team uses analytics, traditional scouting methods are their primary way of evaluating talent. This makes sense since Gorton is a former scout. I don’t know if it’s the best way to go about it in today’s NHL, though.
Overall, on a scale of 10 where 10 is all the trust in the world and 1 is no trust at all, I’d give the Rangers a 7.
Nick Zararis
I’m extremely confident in the front office to have a strong offseason. Every move that Jeff Gorton has made since becoming the general manager is a move that I would have made in the same position.
The moves last summer all set the team up nicely going forward. The Derek Stepan trade was about freeing up cap space to enable the Kevin Shattenkirk signing. Second, the Brendan Smith extension made sense at the time the team made the offer. This combination of moves should have made the Rangers a playoff team but player regression and injuries stopped the team in its tracks.
The biggest concern I had going into this offseason was the team retaining Alain Vigneault as head coach. Gorton fired Vigneault six hours after the season ended which was a good sign. If the team had kept Vigneault on as coach, they’d be running in place. The place they were this season, eighth worst in the league, is unacceptable.
With plenty of cap space and valuable assets to play with, the front office is set up for a good offseason. It’s just a matter of making the right combination of moves. Based on his track record, Gorton has my trust to hit a home run this summer.
Jack Milewski
Based on the moves that Jeff Gorton and company have made, the offseason could already be labeled as solid.
The firing of AV was much needed and at this point if you are going to overhaul the roster, you may as well overhaul the staff with it. Gorton has already made plenty of fans happy and we are less than a week in to the offseason.
The Ilya Kovalchuk signing that will take place on July 1st is also a brilliant move in my mind. He is a veteran with plenty of experience and a good amount left in the tank. Bringing Kovalchuk on the roster adds a veteran voice for a young team and also continues to make the Rangers at least somewhat dangerous this upcoming year.
While the rest of the offseason still remains a mystery, there will certainly be much more work to do. The way Gorton has treated this first week, with conviction and in a decisive manner, gives me a lot of hope that the offseason will end with the Rangers on a fast track to a successful rebuild. They won’t be in the cellar for a decade and they won’t be back to Stanley Cup contention next season. But Gorton looks like he has a plan and I have faith in that plan.
Steve Paulus
The jury is still out on Jeff Gorton.
What’s most encouraging, though, is that he recognized that a retool/rebuild was necessary. Publicly recognizing that the team was not competitive was a gutsy move. So was firing Vigneault. It’s really a two part offseason. Part one are the trades and signings to retool the team. Part two is the draft that will restore the pipeline that has been relatively empty for the last few years.
When it comes to trades, the return he got on the Derek Stepan deal was disappointing, but he did very well at the trade deadline. He has some assets to try to deal and if he can do as well with them as he did with the Zibanejad trade, the Rangers will be in good shape.
The draft is another story. I’m not sold on Lias Andersson as a number seven pick. Filip Chytil at number 21 was a steal. This draft will be the foundation for the Rangers for years to come. If they make bad choices it will be a disaster and when it comes to the draft, they don’t have a great track record.
So, am I confident in this front office? Based on the deals that they have made and Gorton’s history with the Bruins, absolutely. Let’s make no mistake about it, this is a rebuild on the fly. If the reported Kovalchuk signing is true. you can bet the team Gorton assembles will be competitive next season.
Jennifer Moglia
At this point, I can’t say for sure whether I feel confident in the New York Rangers’ front office or not. While the offseason began with a a great move in the firing of head coach Alain Vigneault, the past has simply been too inconsistent for me to trust them just yet.
Vigneault’s departure was necessary and bound to happen at some point this summer. The fact that it happened, and that it happened this early, is a great sign for how the rest of the next few months will go. However, some of the less-than-satisfactory offseason moves of the past should not be forgotten so soon.
Related story: Front office looks good with quick Vigneault firing
Less than a year ago, the Rangers gave up Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta for the seventh overall pick in the 2017 draft, and Tony DeAngelo. While the pick (used to select Lias Andersson) hasn’t panned out yet, DeAngelo hasn’t exactly been a star for the Rangers this year. Additionally, Raanta and Stepan both moved into big roles for Arizona this year.
But, of course, for every bad deal, there’s a good one. The trades that the team made this year were significantly better than that of last offseason. The staff made multiple beneficial trades at the deadline, losing veteran assets but gaining draft picks and prospects to make the future look a bit less bleak.
So, will the Rangers have a strong offseason? In my opinion, the jury is still out. Firing Alain Vigneault was a promising start, but Jeff Gorton and the rest of the front office will have to become a little more consistent in order to gain my total confidence.
Victoria Ranieri
After the firing of head coach Alain Vigneault, I am confident that the front office will have a strong offseason.
I have to admit, I did not have full confidence until Vigneault, Scott Arneil, and Darryl Williams were fired. My fear was Gorton would look at the strong stretch in March, keep the coaching staff, and make a futile attempt at the playoffs next season.
Whether it is a retool or a full rebuild, I now have full faith in Gorton’s decisions. From his press conference, he seems prepared to do whatever it takes to make the Rangers a Stanley Cup contender.
Must read: Thoughts on Jeff Gorton’s season-ending press conference
On the issue of finding a new coach, Gorton is looking everywhere. He used the term “fresh” to describe his criteria, which gives me hope they will be looking for someone like Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe. Keefe’s style of coaching would be a perfect fit for the young Rangers and would skyrocket their development. Bring in similar replacements for Arniel and Williams and you have the foundation for success.
Additionally, I believe Gorton is finally putting skill over character with this draft. He has made quite the effort to acquire first round draft picks. With a draft this deep, you can’t really go wrong. Especially since the Rangers have the chance to draft a player who could become elite in the NHL.
Whatever the Rangers decide to do, I have faith the organization will pull off the right moves. They may even be able to pull off a rebuild on the fly and become contenders again quicker than we thought.
Michael Delasandro
My confidence in the front office is waning in a way. Despite the positive moves the New York Rangers have made this season building up to this offseason, there is a tremendous amount of anxiety from previous experiences with the Rangers.
They have made a fair amount of good moves, but also have supplemented those positive moves with some rather questionable moves. The Rangers have made some concerning picks in drafts, notably the selections of Hugh Jessiman and Dylan McIlrath over current NHL superstars.
On top of the draft area, the Rangers have also made some trades that have either had no effect, or very minor positive effect. One such example, is the Carl Hagelin for Emerson Etem trade in 2015. Despite this, though, Gorton has demonstrated some amount of competence in bringing this team together rather on the fly.
The track record of the Rangers is a strange road, however, they have demonstrated some better qualities in more recent times and certainly have a chance to make some very good picks for the organization with three 1st round picks. And if the Rangers have a decent draft and strong free agency, the Rangers can be right back in the game next season.
Tim Haggerty
I am confident the New York Rangers front office will have a good offseason because they have gotten off to a great start.
The front office noticed where the team was at during the trade deadline and made some positive moves, offloading some expiring contracts for draft picks. This offseason got going by firing the head coach Alain Vigneault and coming to terms with Ilya Kovalchuk.
If I were to judge the Rangers on what they have done since, I would call it a success. There is no reason to think that wont continue through the summer.
Some moves could continue to focus on improvement, either via trade, free agency or the draft.
Earlier in the year, the Ottawa Senators were listening to offers on all-star defenseman Erik Karlsson. The Rangers could send a couple of prospects and picks to the Senators if they wanted Karlsson. The same could be said about Winnipeg’s Jacob Trouba.
Crosstown rival John Tavares is also a free agent this summer and could opt to stay in town wearing another uniform. It would be pretty unbelievable if this was true, but the Rangers do have the money and the ease of transition for Tavares.
It’s hard to imagine a total botch this offseason by the front office, but this season was hard to imagine six months ago.
Daniel Carrozzi
Overall, I do not have faith that the New York Rangers front office will have a “strong” offseason. Let me temper that by saying I think they will have a “good” offseason, I’m predicting a solid B- from them but I don’t trust them to have a strong offseason, yet.
For the past few years that general manager Jeff Gorton has been the main man at the helm, it’s felt like team has constantly taken one step forward and then one step back. Here are some examples.
I am most tepid towards Gorton when it comes to his trading. Of the good ones, he traded Derick Brassard for Mika Zibanejad and a second round pick (later used to acquire Brendan Smith). On the negative end, he traded Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta for a first rounder that became Lias Andersson and Tony DeAngelo.
Must read: Injuries killed the Rangers this season
It’s tough to evaluate Gorton’s performance with the draft after only two as GM but he drafted Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil last year. Conversely, there are no impact players from 2016 and he selected many over-aged players in 2017.
Gorton has performed well in free agency, signing college free agents Jimmy Vesey, Neal Pionk and John Gilmour. His signing of Kevin Shattenkirk was perfect. He also picked up undrafted Alexandar Georgiev. On the flip side, he let Keith Yandle walk without negotiation and re-signed Steven Kampfer.
There seems to be an unwritten law of the New York Rangers that states: “For every positive transaction there is an equal and opposite transaction.”
The organization needs to navigate this upcoming draft well, where they have three first round picks and seven in rounds one through three. Then they have their own free agents to re-sign, some of whom will also need to be traded.
Dylan Jacobs
Jeff Gorton’s run as GM may have gotten off to a rocky start, but I have confidence that he will have a strong offseason.
Alain Vigneault was fired a few hours after the final game, which shows Gorton’s commitment to a culture change.
His proceeding press conference made it clear that he wanted a coach committed to young players, which is encouraging.
The amount of cap space that the team has open should also make fans confident. While some may be concerned with the rumored Ilya Kovalchuk signing, it shows that Gorton wants this rebuild to be quick. Kovalchuk could become a leader of the team and help keep the Rangers afloat.
He also has plenty of draft picks to work with, which means either a large number of prospects or trading up to get an elite young player.
Some may question the trade deadline moves, but the team received young players, prospects, and draft picks which got the rebuild off on the right foot. If that is a precursor for the moves that he will make this offseason than good things will come.
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Gorton has shown that he is dedicated to the future of the Rangers. It’s not fun missing the playoffs, but Gorton is trying to make sure that it’s not long before they’re back.