With the New York Rangers on the verge of missing the playoffs, speculation on what changes the organization may make have already begun..
After a season of the likes that the Rangers are currently experiencing, it’s common for both the coach and general manager to be on the hot seat.
However, it doesn’t appear as if Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury is at any risk of losing his job, at least according to one NHL insider.
“My sense there is that he should be okay. I think there’s a lot of loyalty from Jim Dolan, the owner,” TSN’s Pierre LeBrun said. “Chris Drury was pretty busy out of the trade deadline, too, really kind of setting up his offseason with a lot of moves he made. I think Chris Drury plans to be aggressive in trying to retool the Rangers again here this summer.”
Dury’s decisions to waive Barclay Goodrow, force Jacob Trouba to waive his no-trade clause, and publicly shop Chris Kreider, created an uncomfortable environment around the Rangers organization.
Some even blame Drury for the Rangers’ fall from grace this season, considering they won the Presidents’ Trophy just one year ago before all of this transpired.
Unlike his boss, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette may not be so safe.
“I can tell you that there’s absolutely no word out of the Rangers, themselves,” LeBrun said. “Very tight-lipped about what might transpire here over the next week, or so. But in talking to other people around the League, the low-hanging fruit, the expectations from a lot of people I’ve talked to is that Peter Laviolette could get fired.
“He’s got another year on his deal, so certainly not a sure thing. But when you look at the body language and the performance of the team over the last month, again, when I’ve talked to other people around the League, that’s probably the easiest conclusion, and so, we’ll see whether or not that happens.”
It’s unclear what changes will be made, but expect to see a hectic and busy Rangers offseason with drastic turnover.
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