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New York Rangers name Chris Drury assistant GM |
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Drury, who helped play a key role in the recruitment of Jimmy Vesey, becomes the Rangers' Assistant GM under Gorton. He had rejoined the organization last season as director of player development, but expands his remit with this role. Here is a summary of the role from the Rangers' official press release announcing the hiring:
In his expanded role, Drury, 40, will assist Gorton on all player transactions and contract negotiations, and he will continue to assist in overseeing and evaluating all players at the collegiate level. Drury, who rejoined the Rangers organization as Director of Player Development on September 4, 2015, will continue to assist in the development of Rangers prospects, both on and off the ice, and serve as a liaison between the hockey operations department and prospects in the organization.
Drury, who won the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in NCAA hockey as a college senior (1998, Boston University), spent the final four seasons of his playing career with the Rangers, joining the team as a free agent from Buffalo. He came to New York on a five-year, $35.25 million deal as a free agent on July 1, 2007. As we all know, his stint with the team didn't go as well as planned, resulting in a buyout on June 29, 2011 after he decided against applying for a medical exception due to a left knee condition. Because Drury had a no-move clause in his contract, he was able to elect not to go on unconditional waivers preceding the buyout.
This is what I wrote on that day:
The decision to and agreement by Drury to accept his buyout, enables the Rangers to save $3.333 million this year - costing the team $3.717 million in dead cap space in 2011-12 and $1.667 million next year. Drury, due to spending most of last year on IR, is eligible to sign a one-year deal with incentives and Brooks - as well as many of speculate - he could end up back in Buffalo, though a move back to Colorado or Phoenix might also be in the cards.
Say what you will about his performance as a Ranger - 151 points (62-89) in 264 games and seven points (3-4) and 16 playoff matches - but he always wore the colors of the team with pride and represented the C on his jersey well. That said, it was a move that had to be made for now and the future. The buyout of Drury nearly closes a painful chapter in the Rangers history, as the bloated contract of Wade Redden will be the only that remains from embarrassingly bad ones doled out to Gomez, Drury, Roszival and Redden.
The bolded piece is the key. Drury helped the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in 2001 and won the silver medal with the United States at the 2002 and 2010 Olympics. Plus, as was pointed out in the comments, he led Trumbull, Ct. to the Little League World Series title in 1989, though that championship might be stretching the bounds of influence with free agents and players in the NHL. That overall winning pedigree and leadership were major reasons why the Rangers signed him and his overall career will help him relate to the players. In addition, Vesey's opinion of Drury was a key factor in him signing in New York, as Vesey noted, "Chris Drury was someone that I was really impressed with during the meeting with the Rangers and he's someone that I respect a lot based on what he's done in his career," Hopefully, that respect factor coupled with Drury's relative youth in terms of those in this type of role and playing career should be a benefit to Gorton and the Rangers in the future pursuit of free agents.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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