Chris Drury didn't speak to the media after the 2026 NHL Draft despite requests from media in attendance, and they were informed that the Rangers president and general manager would talk post July 1. That strategy would leave fans to believe that once Drury did speak that the Rangers' work would be over, but that is the furthest thing from the truth based on Drury's availability on Thursday afternoon.
Despite a wild week of activity Drury is still hard at work tinkering with the roster
After trading for Pavel Dorofeyev, Marcus Pettersson, Sean Durzi, Joonas Korpisalo, drafting Albert Smits fifth overall, signing Oliver Bjorkstrand, Joe Veleno, trading Vincent Trocheck and Will Borgen, and doing few other things, most fans would accept that as a successful offseason considering where the Rangers were and where they stand today.
Drury says the organization is "energized" by the moves they've made in the past week. Said they were "targeting young players in their prime that enhance the skill and speed of the team."#NYR
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) July 2, 2026
Drury begs to differ, and despite having an impressive week of work, he was steadfast in saying that there's more work to be done, and that he will pursue other opportunities. During his Zoom meeting, Drury went on to say that he was, "certainly not going to sit here and say the job's done and complete and move on. We're still tinkering, still looking, and any which way we can help the team between now and Opening Night, we're going to keep trying."
That statement is an interesting one, as the Rangers don't have many areas that they still need to address. If I were to make a guess, I'd say that could be hinting at making a decision on the third pair, maybe a potential Braden Schneider trade (more on that later), or adding another center for this season that was on Vincent Trocheck's level or better.
Rangers moves suggest an acceleration of Letter 2.0 retool, but Drury doesn't want to put a timeline out there
Based on the moves already made, and the ones that could soon come, it would be easy to say the Rangers are hitting the gas to accelerate their Letter 2.0 retool. Drury wasn't willing to offer any comment on that, and essentially repeated prior talking points.
"As I've said in the past, I'm not gonna sit here and put a time on anything. The only timeline I operate on is trying to get better every single day, and looking at ways to get the team better every single day, and we'll continue to do that. We’re certainly excited to add the pieces we did."
This makes sense given what Drury already said about the work not being done yet, and until additional moves are made it makes sense to keep things fluid and open ended.
Drury admits things needed to change, and feels team is in a better spot going forward
If you look at how the Rangers drafted and how they went about adding players through signings and trade, there's a theme which speaks to a recognition that things needed to change. Specifically the Rangers needed to get faster, they needed to get better at moving the puck, and better playing a modern game.
Starting with the defense, Drury stated, "it definitely was a priority. I think just the ability to move the puck, to get the puck out of our zone, to get it through the neutral zone, to get it to our forwards in all three zones was a priority. We looked at a lot of different options in a lot of different areas through this retool and identified that as one that we really wanted to address. Moved pieces around and did a number of different things to kind of reshape the D core."
The addition of Pettersson and Durzi will give the Rangers some additional experience and a nice balance that was sorely lacking this past season. The Rangers had a tough time breaking the puck out of their zone and moving it up the ice, and at times the forwards were doing so much work that by the time they got into the offensive zone they were toward the end of their shift. Long term the Rangers also have some options they picked up in the draft, one such option which could impact things as soon as this season.
In order to acquire Pettersson and Durzi the Rangers needed to give up some draft picks, and there were also other moves made (Dorofeyev) in which a pick was sacrificed. Drury had an interesting thought about the net result of those moves, and why the Rangers were willing to go down that road.
Via Vince Mercogliano of The Athletic:
"My philosophy, and our philosophy was, if they're for the right player or players that are at the right age with the right contract, that can help our lineup — not just in the next year or two, but for a number of years down the road — that would be worth it. We were also able to acquire at the deadline a first-round pick that's closer to playing and turning pro this year in (Liam) Greentree, and a little later pick in (Jacob) Battaglia, and obviously Cole (Beaudoin) yesterday was a former first-round pick, so we felt like we plugged some holes with not only real players to put on our roster that can play in key roles, but also added some some other picks and actual draft picks and an actual prospects in those players I mentioned."
Moving future picks is certainly a risk, but given the Rangers and their expected timeline that Drury won't comment on, you can make a strong argument that the players and prospects they added are worth it. Center is a top area of need long term, and someone like Cole Beaudoin being in the system can be a major help. Liam Greentree joined the organization months ago, and their is hope he has top six potential. Battaglia is an intriguing option who was acquired in the Brennan Othmann deal, and anything he can provide will be worth it considering how lost Othmann looked during his time in New York.
Biggest remaining questions concern defense, and the two players who aren't guaranteed a role on next year's squad
The third pair is the only area of the defense that is TBD, and that is primarily because there's no guarantee Braden Schneider will be signed, and because Alberts Smits may start in Hartford. Drury spoke to both of these things, and in some ways I feel the two are interconnected.
Regarding Smits, Drury stated:
"Well, there's not too many kids his age drafted who have played in two different men's pro leagues, Olympics, World Championships. Certainly isn't getting in bigger stages than those events he participated in. We're excited where we got him...But with that said, we're going to do right by him and the long-term health and well-being of him as a Ranger. This is not a sprint for him. We hope he's a rock solid defenseman for the Rangers for the next 15 years. We're not going to put him in positions or situations that he can't handle."
NHL readiness and experience playing against older players is something that was touted about Smits, and added to the Rangers comfortability in taking him when he was available. The Rangers have been criticized in the past about rushing players along, and with a top four of Adam Fox, Vladislav Gavrikov, Pettersson, and Durzi, there is no reason to pencil him in for a spot. Matthew Robertson was more than capable last season, and there's nothing wrong with him getting another shot next season.
That said, I do think that Smits has a better chance of making the team if Schneider is traded, because the Rangers likely realize how poorly their 2020 first rounder has played, and they don't want to put their 2026 first rounder in a tough spot to start his career. As for his future with the team, Drury remained complimentary of Schneider, and said a lot without actually saying anything at all.
Drury remarked, "We think Braden is a really good young talented defenseman. We drafted him, developed him, we like the skill set and what he does for us. I know he, along with us, are just trying to do everything we can to be better and help him be better, but he's an exciting player and a terrific all-around high character person in our organization."
This was a standard response from Drury, and I believe he is still weighing his options. Schneider was given a huge opportunity last year and failed to do anything with it, and the addition of Durzi essentially caps him out on the third pair. That Schneider needs a new contract and is so close to unrestricted free agency makes the prospect of signing him to any deal of consequence a mistake waiting to happen. I think this situation is what Drury was alluding to when he said the work wasn't finished, and we will see what happens in the coming weeks.
Things are looking up, and fans have a reason to smile
All in all, Drury's time with the media was productive, even if he pretty much said a lot of things fans already knew. His recognition that things needed to change, and an insistence that the job isn't finished despite the moves made to date is something that should encourage fans.
The Rangers are in a much better place today than they were on Friday, and where they were post Round 1 of the draft was significantly better than they were at the end of the season. A long offseason awaits fans, but based on what's happened thus far, fans should feel good about the direction the Rangers are heading in, and certainly have a reason to be optimistic about the team's chance come October.
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