Rangers legend Mark Messier, during an appearance Wednesday on The Michael Kay Show on 98.7 ESPN New York, was asked whether he'd want to be involved with the team. "I've made it very clear that I've been standing by, ready to help out in any way, for many years, so ... other than that I don't really know what else to say," Messier replied.
Sather back, Messier will be part of the organization for sure I think, and after reading some articles I think Drury is 100% the Pres moving forward (with Sather's guidance and support), and almost for sure the GM as well (guessing a very experienced associate GM is added to support him).
That's the biggest embarrassment of all. I'll say this, if the relationship ended today because Gorton and JD had different philosophies moving forward than Dolan - PLEASE give me the Gorton and JD side. But nope we get the Dolan side.
I think Drury will be a fine gm/prez. I mean, he owns a successful pizza parlor in Connecticut according to Pier. LOL Jokes aside. I think Drury will do a good job. He has won the cup, well respected in the league and being around the organization for a while now.
I actually think Drury will be fine also, I just think promoting him to that level, in a dual role, when he has never even been an NHL GM is crazy. Not a move a top organization should make IMO.
I wouldn't mind Mess as a president. I wouldn't want him as a coach but as president. Would love to see it. What about Graves as a president. I think he is still around with the organization. And what's Brian Leetch doing these days? lol
Q: How much did the Tom Wilson incident factor into the dismissals? A: There was no correlation. The firings were being mulled by Jim Dolan for some time because of a disconnect between the CEO and Davidson/Gorton. Dolan is looking to close out the rebuilding chapter, while Davidson and Gorton were hoping to take more time with it. Q: How does this change the trajectory of the rebuild? Is there going to be a “win now” mandate. A: Given that the basis of the dismissals was due to a disagreement into how far along the rebuild is, as well as Dolan’s disappointment in missing the playoffs this year, Drury will likely be expected to wrap up the reconstruction and turn the team into Stanley Cup contenders as soon as possible. If making the playoffs was the ultimate goal for this season, it will be a requirement next year. Q: What can we expect this offseason? A: The incident with Wilson showed a glaring need for more grit in the lineup. For as many skill players as Gorton added to the roster in the last few drafts, there is a clear lack of experienced and heavy skaters. The team is expected to address these areas.
Very shortsighted by Dolan. You can't cut corners and rush the rebuild or it won't pay dividends as much as you want. So what if they didn't make the playoffs this year with no fans and a condensed sched. with a tougher setup? Doesn't mean the team didn't take another good step forward. He's letting the Wilson thing freak him out when in reality it wasn't all that bad and would've happened either way, even if we had a bunch of guys with 'grit'. He saw what the roster was all year and didn't make a fuss about it until now.
Yeah, and this is why Dolan is an awful untrustworthy owner. He is all in on the letter and patience. Then 3 years later he bails on that and fires two great executives because they wanted to continue patience and build the right way. That's not the type of mindset and approach you want from your owner. Did he think patience and reboot meant 1 year? Ridiculous. This will shorten our window also as the mandate will be go get it done, which means bigger salaries and forget having so many kids. Kreidertime should not be happy today. Bottom line is this, like I said, rebuild over, old Rangers back this summer - just hope Drury doesn't get crazy and deal too many kids and the wrong ones (Lafreniere, Kakko, Kravtsov, etc.) to placate Dolan. And like it or not, this is will be Drury, Sather, and Messier's organization. Drury as Pres and GM, Sather as his Sr. advisor and mentor, and Messier as coach or some other role. You decide if that is good or bad. I think Drury could do well, but he is not ready for that type of responsibility having never even been an NHL GM, which concerns me because he may defer to Sather a lot, and that is scary. And Messier has never been a coach, or frankly done any role he may get. It is troubling.
A few things are clear after today. 1. Rebuild is over - When it comes to the “rebuild” it sounds like it should be considered over. Drury made it clear that he takes this job “very, very, very seriously.” His mission to the fanbase was direct. “My goal is to bring a Cup to MSG. Period.” “I really believe in what we’ve accomplished since The Letter. We have a lot of good pieces & it’s an exciting time for the org,” Drury explained. “When the season ends, we’re going to take a look at everything and see if we can take the next step and make ourselves a playoff team.” Drury added the he believes Rangers fans are going to be very excited with the moves they make. “I think we do have a lot of good assets and we’re going look at everything and try to figure out how best to take the next step forward,” Drury hinted. The Rangers are going to take a handful of these younger players and package them for the pieces they need. 2. Sather was all over that press conference today. He will be heavily involved, and 100% Drury is the Pres and GM for good. 3. Quinn is gone next week - When asked about the future of David Quinn, he would not discuss publicly the future of anyone’s job. Take that as you will, but it does not bode well for most coaches. If there was no intention to make a change behind the bench this was on opportunity for Drury to say so. Glen Sather further commented that there will be a lot of decisions to be made next week.
Sounds like absolutely adding a big C, Eichel the main target, but not the only C available. The Rangers know that Eichel isn’t the only center that will be available this summer. Names expected to be shopped are Aleksander Barkov, Evgeni Malkin, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Of those pivots, only Barkov would be as steep a price. Adding a vet dman to play with the kids. Adding more toughness on the 4th line. Those sound like the main goals this summer.
I'm not sure you can read too much into Drurys comments as Quinn is likely gone. I think he doesn't want to sound one way or the other right off the bat in his introductory conference. I actually think it's more likely he gives Quinn into next season.
Give Drury a chance. A team is built around core players, core talent and we have core talent already. I am not sure why Gorton wanted to take more time building this team. Look what happened to Edmonton. Do you want 10 years to rebuild? I still don't understand why Gorton did not get a veteran C to play with Kakko and LFA on the 3rd line. That was my question all season. Why couldn't Gorton/JD get Eric Staal? We had the cap room this year, and it was wasted. Get a one-year contract to develop kids. Most of the year LFA-Chytil-Kakko did pretty much nothing. Blackwell played on the second line instead of Kakko. Kakko clearly deserved to play on the second line. And for what in the end? And Gorton got rid of one player that knew how to fight. I think grey said that Lemuix requested a trade. Who gives a shit what he wanted? And even if you trade Lemuix, Kings have plenty of thugs, we could have gotten one back. As long as Drury doesn't touch: LFA, Kakko, Fox, Miller, Kravstov (unless for an Echiel type center and keeps Buch instead), Zibanjad, Shesterkin, and Panarin, we are fine. How many young kids do we need? We have at least 10 great defensemen in the system now. Do we really need all 10? Our trading chips are: 2 talented defensemen, 2 above average defenseman, Chytil, Buch, Gauthier, and future picks to finish this rebuild now and still be a young team. We have the best farm in the NHL for a few years now. How much more picks do we need?
