After months of waiting, the New York Rangers' season has finally arrived. On Tuesday night, the Rangers are on the road to take on the Boston Bruins for their first game of the season. For Rangers fans, this campaign has more intrigue, given this is the first after general manager Chris Drury's retool.
Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck are no longer on the roster after trades to the Los Angeles Kings and Utah Mammoth, respectively. But the Rangers did add Pavel Dorofeyev and Oliver Bjorkstrand to their top six forward group, while bolstering their defense with the additions of Sean Durzi, Marcus Pettersson, and first-round pick Alberts Smits. On paper, the roster looks more complete than last year's, but all that matters is if it shows on the ice and it leads to wins.
If the Rangers are in the same position as last year, then the noise surrounding Drury is going to be louder than ever.
Chris Drury took numerous gambles this offseason in an effort to push contention window open
Last year, the Rangers hired Mike Sullivan to be their head coach in hopes that he could lead the roster that was constructed to the playoffs. As it turns out, Sullivan was not a miracle worker, as the Rangers started off the year slow. Once goalie Igor Shesterkin and defenseman Adam Fox were injured, Drury waved the white flag, letting the league know that some of their players are available for trade.
Yet, instead of going the rebuild route, which would mean a couple of years of a ton of losses and no playoffs, Drury instead opted for a retool. So, that meant bringing in immediate contributors to help them get back to the playoffs.
Their first big move of the offseason, officially, was the team trading for Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights. To do so, and to sign Dorofeyev to a seven-year, $77 million extension, the Rangers surrendered their a 2026 and a 2028 first-round pick to do so. Then, with the Pettersson trade with the Vancouver Canucks, the Rangers gave up a conditional 2030 first-round pick.
Durry gave up premium draft capital in an effort to bring in two players they hope can be difference makers. If the results don't show, the heat will be on Drury from an already frustrated Rangers fanbase.
Rangers fans will call for Chris Drury's job if team underperforms again
Drury isn't held in high regard from a portion of the Rangers fanbase. Drury took over in 2021, and while he did oversee the Rangers make it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 and 2024, the team has been on the decline ever since.
What didn't exactly help matters was how Drury handled the exits to some of their prominent players. With Barclay Goodrow, Drury placed him on waivers to get claimed by the San Jose Sharks, knowing that he'd reject a trade. Then there was Jacob Trouba, who claimed that Drury threatened to throw him on waivers unless he accepted a trade, which ultimately saw him going to the Anaheim Ducks. Then, Drury moved on from one of the franchise's leading scorers in Chris Kreider, which resulted in a trade with the Ducks.
Let's face it, whenever a team underperforms, the general manager is the focus of the fanbase's ire. that is the case with Drury, who oversaw the Rangers go from Stanley Cup contenders to sole holders of last place in the conference last year. Yet, even in the decline, team owner James Dolan gave his endorsement to Drury. Maybe things change with his son, Quentin Dolan, taking over as team president and seeing the day-to-day operations of the Rangers.
Drury took gambles to prove that he could bring the Rangers back to Stanley Cup contention. If the team continues to struggle, one has to wonder if the Dolan family will finally opt to move on from him.
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