New York Rangers: John Davidson’s executive history
The New York Rangers are waiting for the Columbus Blue Jackets’ postseason run to end to name that organization’s President, John Davidson, the replacement to Glen Sather according to Larry Brooks.
Since the news broke this morning that Detroit Red Wings’ legend Steve Yzerman would return to the motor city, the New York Rangers’ search for a team president is down to one candidate. Since New York has not reached out to any other candidates, Larry Brooks of the New York Post hypothesized that the team is waiting for John Davidson’s team to be eliminated.
There probably was no realistic scenario in which the Rangers were ever going to get Yzerman. The former Tampa Bay Lightning G.M. declined an interview with New York for the position according to Brooks and Gord Miller of TSN. Yzerman won three cups with the Red Wings and wanted to be closer to his family, so it makes an awful lot of sense.
As for the Rangers, this leaves them out in the cold and waiting. The team president is not like a head coach or general manager in the sense that they don’t make day to day choices that affect that organization. Instead, they are tasked with setting a direction for the team and facilitating decisions between ownership and the hockey people.
For example, Davidson was likely the one who told Columbus G.M. Jarmo Kekäläinen to go for it at the trade deadline and facilitated the necessary money from ownership to take on more players. In addition, it would be the president’s job to establish philosophies for player development, scouting and minor league infrastructure
The track record
To get into the nitty-gritty, Davidson has 13 years of experience with two different organizations. His first job post-broadcast career was with the St. Louis Blues which began in June of 2006. At the time, the Blues were a below average mid-market team with an existing general manager, Larry Pleau, and head coach, Mike Kitchen, already in place.
In Davidson’s six years as Blues’ president, the team made the postseason twice and went through four different head coaches. In addition, he also replaced Pleau with Doug Armstrong who still holds the position to this day.
It was under Davidson that the Blues drafted several of its most important contributors including Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Pietrangelo. While the president doesn’t make the picks, he hires the people that do and it reflects well on him. The Blues were steered in the right direction under Davidson, while the team didn’t have much tangible success, it was eventually set up for it.
Columbus
Of Davidson’s two stops in the NHL thus far, his time in Columbus is the more notable. In the Blue Jackets’ first 11 years of existence, the organization had a single postseason appearance, in which it was swept by the Detroit Red Wings. Since Davidson’s arrival, the team has made the playoffs four times and has successfully built a solid core.
Again, it’s difficult to understand exactly how much influence a President has within an organization, but it’s clear that Davidson has put the Blue Jackets in a position to succeed. The team was built through solid drafting and high upside trades. Using assets, Columbus was able to acquire both Artemi Panarin and Seth Jones via trade.
Under Davidson, the Blue Jackets have had two different head coaches and general managers. This makes sense as the general manager is usually afforded the luxury of picking a head coach to implement his vision for the organization.
Final thoughts
The only possible drawback that would accompany hiring Davidson as president is a missed opportunity. There are not many organizations with a forward-thinking vision of hockey from the top down. The Rangers could stand to modernize their hockey operations in a variety of different ways.
The infrastructure down in the AHL needs a major overhaul, the Hartford Wolfpack should serve as a pipeline for NHL talent, not a stop gap obligation for players the team doesn’t know what to do with. Much of the Rangers’ future success is contingent upon talent development and that starts at the AHL level.
Davidson is a perfectly fine choice for both practical and nostalgic reasons. The former goaltender has made two successful stops thus far in his NHL career and depending on how far the Blue Jackets go in this year’s playoffs one could be an immortally successful stop.
The Rangers, like last summer when it came to finding a head coach, are waiting for the right candidate. A familiar face like Davidson with ties to the organization would be perfectly grounded in reality and the right type of transition from Glen Sather.