The New York Rangers led by Chris Drury have had an active offseason to say the least. It started with the hiring of Gerard Gallant and his assistants. Now the focus has shifted to reshaping the roster and being much harder to play against.
It is widely believed that Drury is not done in his retooling of the Blueshirts to compete for a playoff spot and then win when it counts most.
New York Rangers offseason thoughts
NY Rangers offseason transactions:
- 7/17 Acquire the rights to Barclay Goodrow from the Lightning
- 7/17 Trade Brett Howden to the Golden Knights for Nick DeSimone and a 4th rd pick
- 7/21 lose Colin Blackwell with the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft
- 7/22 Sign Barclay Goodrow for 6 years and $21.85M
- 7/23 Trade Pavel Buchnevich to the St. Louis Blues for Sammy Blais and 2nd rd pick
- 7/28 Patrik Nemeth signs for 3 years and $7.5M
- 7/28 Jarred Tinordi signsfor 2 years and $1.8M
- 7/28 Greg McKegg signs for 1 year and $750K
- 7/28 Ink Dryden Hunt for 2 years and $1.525M
- 7/29 Sign Filip Chytil for 2 years and $4.6M
- 7/29 Acquire Ryan Reaves from the Golden Knights for a 3rd rd pick
- 7/31 Extend Ryan Reaves for 1 year and $1.75M in 2022-23
So far, all of Chris Drury’s moves have been to beef up the bottom six and balance the lineup.
Barclay Goodrow is expected to play a prominent role on the third line. Meanwhile, Ryan Reaves fully changes the dynamic of the team bringing a level of toughness not seen in years. Sammy Blais is expected to also be a key player on a revamped 4th line.
The signing of Patrik Nemeth is to stabilize the Rangers third pair defense. He is expected to be paired with top prospect Nils Lundkvist, and will help mentor him.
NY Rangers latest rumors:
- Jack Eichel trade saga continues. The Rangers may very well be the only team still interested at the moment and thus should not overpay. Regardless, the situation in Buffalo has gone from bad to worse as both sides have called each other out.
- The Capitals Evgeny Kuznetsov could be a plan B to upgrade at center but the trail has run cold on that rumor.
- There’s some talk that if the Eichel deal falls through, Chris Drury may opt to bring in another Gallant favorite from Vegas in Reilly Smith.
- Drury may also be after center Christian Dvorak from Arizona to shore up the third line.
Rangers Assistant GM search
The promotion of Chris Drury to President and General Manager has left two holes to fill. One being the role of Hartford Wolf Pack GM, the other Assistant GM to the New York Rangers. That could be combined, as that is what Drury did before taking over.
Here’s a few candidates:
Kevin Weekes: The NHL Network analyst is one of the brightest minds in the game today. He has been sought for interviews by teams like the New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins. There’s also been some talk that he could land with old teammate Chris Drury in New York.
Mathieu Darche: He has been Tampa Bay’s Director of Hockey Operations since 2019. He retired from playing in 2013 as a member of the Lightning. The 44 year-old is an up and coming star in the executive ranks, much like Chris Drury was. Darche would represent an outside the organization candidate that could bring in some new ideas. He has been an integral part of the NHL’s most successful franchise over the last several years. He will certainly have a list of suitors if Tampa agrees to let him interview for any other position.
Pat Boller: If the Rangers want to promote from within, Boller has been with the organization for 12 years. He was an assistant coach with the Wolf Pack before becoming the assistant GM in the 2012-13 season. The 48 year-old worked with Drury to help turn Hartford around so there’s familiarity there.
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