Does Jeff Gorton deserve blind faith?

50/50

Acquiring Tony DeAngelo– When the Rangers got Tony DeAngelo, he proved that he could put together that immense talent if given another shot. The problem? It came at a steep cost. At the time, the Rangers traded their number-one center in Derek Stepan and a potential number-one goalie in Antti Raanta for DeAngelo and the seventh overall pick. While the move cleared up a lot of cap space for the Rangers, the seventh pick became Lias Andersson. Raanta forms a strong goalie tandem with Darcy Kuemper. If DeAngelo slots over to the left and becomes a top-four defenseman and matches his productivity from last season, then the Rangers win this deal. The Stepan-for-Andersson aspect is essentially a wash.

The Jacob Trouba contract– Look, you just traded a first-rounder and a young defenseman for what you think is going to be your number-one defender. So, you dole out a seven-year, $8 million per year contract to the guy. I get that. The problem? Right now, Trouba is tied for the seventh-highest paid defenseman in the league. He’s tied with Brent Burns, John Carlson, and Thomas Chabot. On that list alone, you’d probably take every other defender. Troubla struggled mightily in his first season on Broadway–and could reasonably be usurped by Fox and DeAngelo. If Trouba doesn’t turn it around, you’re looking at another Marc Staal/Brendan Smith/Wade Redden albatross contract that may take another buyout to get out off.

The draft picks- Gorton will ultimately sink or swim based on the progress of Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafrenière, Nils Lundkvist, Vitali Kravtsov, K’Andre Miller, and more. Some of these prospects were off-the-board picks that people questioned at the time. These picks–like Miller, Kratsov, and Chytil–are really the key to Gorton’s reputation as a GM. Some have had moments of regression–Chytil and Kravtsov–but they’re young, and development isn’t always a straight line. We’ll see.

Hiring David Quinn– I’ve already argued that I don’t believe David Quinn is a developmental coach. So, if Quinn proves me right, no matter what young talent Gorton drafts or trades for, it won’t matter. A huge part of Gorton’s success is determinate on Quinn actually playing his rookies in meaningful situations, so they can progress–and fast.

The verdict?

Ultimately, in my mind Jeff Gorton is a top-10 GM. Having said that, he has enough questionable decisions that any Rangers fan can reasonably wonder about moves he makes. I’d say this–I don’t question if Gorton makes the right move, I wonder whether he always makes the best move.