The question as to how much longer Glen Sather would remain as GM has been asked for several seasons. Two years ago, there were questions about his health and if that would cause him to step down. I mentioned this in my top-20+ offseasons after the 2013 season. Last year, I asked the question again but that was mainly because of the concern about losing Jeff Gorton.
Well guess what, that question has come up again. It was to be part of my top 20+ offsesson questions for this year by Larry Brooks has obviated the need for me to include it down the road and cover it here. Brooks wrote today in his column (http://nypost.com/2015/06/05/glen-sather-considers-stepping-down-as-rangers-gm/): that Sather is considering stepping down as GM. Sather didn't come out and explicitly state but did so implicitly when asked if it would be fair to say he is undecided about the future. Brooks added:
Sather, who has a “lifetime contract… with Garden CEO Jim Dolan, has held the dual position of club president-GM since June 2000. It is believed the 71-year-old, a finalist for the NHL’s GM of the Year Award, is contemplating stepping away to exclusively assume the role as president.Assistant GM Jeff Gorton, who has held that role for the last four years while handling an increasing amount of the day-to-day operations within the hockey department, would be the clear-cut front-runner to succeed Sather if he indeed steps down/up.
None of this comes as a shock to most of us. When Sather denied the Maple Leafs and Bruins the right to talk to Gorton for their open GM job this job and similar denials to others were made last year, speculation was that Sather could step by to cede the job to Gorton. Sather could remain involved on making or signing off on the big decisions while Gorton fully handles them day-you-day operations.
My view on Sather was made pretty clear in my blog last year (http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blogger_archive.php?blogger_id=89). My main criticisms are that he failed to sign players early, enabling them to become RFA and UFA rather than having them locked at reasonable contracts. Granted, it takes two to make a deal, but my firm belief is that several of the players either lost or signed to higher than expected contacts could have remained or been signed for a smaller amount with forethought. Second, he seemed to always be focused on the big deal rather than the smaller ones. New York has had a mixture of both but if you ask anyone who knows the game or even the casual fan, the view would be Sather likes to make the big splash rather than being satisfied with the incremental deal. Last, it's his handling of players on bridge deals and the acrimony he creates. We know that if a player is signed to a bridge deal, he will take a hit on his deal. Therefore, when he is ready to gain status as a RFA with arb rights or a UFA, the inability to lock a player up, as mentioned in my first point, or not squeezing him on a bridge deal ultimately comes back to haunt the Rangers.
Sather has made deals to improve the team yearly. Whether they have improved wisely is another conversation for another day. Let Sather focus on the role as president and promote Gorton to be the GM.
Now the crowd surfing part of the blog. For all those who remember Sunday and Monday Night Baseball and Football, the was a segment called IBM Presents You Make the Call. A rule question was asked and the viewer would need to come up with the ruling, which was provided after the commercial. We get to try a kind of similar thing here. As mentioned above, annually I do the top-20+ offseason blog. Even as I decide the direction of the blog, that is still one to be posted. In the past, I have listed the questions, then covered my responses to the questions knowing that many of you had your own questions and at times differing answers.
This year, rather than me posting the questions that I alone I have, I thought I would throw it to the readers for their ideas, especially since many of the blogs during the year utlilized your comments and views. Many of the questions are obvious. The status of Nash, Talbot, St. Louis, Hagelin and Sather all would be those that will be covered, and in the case of Sather, covered in this blog. But what I want is what would your questions be and I will take several and include in my 20+ questions blog to be answered as the summer wears on.