After removing his name from consideration in the Pittsburgh Penguins general manager search, Chris Drury is getting the title somewhere else. USA Hockey has announced that Drury will return as GM of the Men’s National Team, choosing and managing the squad that will take part in the 2021 IIHF Men’s World Championship later this year. The event is set to take place between May 21 and June 6 in Riga, Latvia.
Drury, who also recently received a promotion with the New York Rangers to associate GM, has served in the same role with USA Hockey for the last two years, though the 2020 tournament was canceled. This year, he will be joined by an advisory group that includes John Vanbiesbrouck, David Poile, Don Waddell, Stan Bowman, Jeff Gorton, Lou Lamoriello, Bill Guerin, Tom Fitzgerald, Bill Zito, and Kevyn Adams, a veritable who’s-who of American-born NHL executives. Vanbiesbrouck, who is the assistant executive director for USA Hockey, released this statement:
It’s great to have Chris back as the general manager of our men’s national team. He’s transitioned from his days as a player and emerged as one of the bright young stars on the management side of the game. Together with our Men’s National Team Advisory Group, we’re very fortunate to have an experienced and passionate group involved to help us put together a team that will compete for a gold medal.
The continued selection of Drury is another signal that he is one of the most respected up-and-coming executives in the game and will likely be given the reins to an NHL franchise eventually. For now, he told the Penguins that he was happy with his role in New York (receiving a promotion just days after withdrawing his name from consideration).
Like every year, the team that Drury will be able to put together for the World Championship is dependant on the outcome of the NHL regular season and playoffs. The schedule currently has the regular season ending in early May, meaning players that don’t make the postseason could be eligible to travel (and quarantine) to the tournament in time. Usually, those that are eliminated in the first round also join the event, but that may be more difficult with health restrictions this time around. It will be interesting to see if Drury embraces the youth movement that Hockey Canada spoke about recently, or if they will bring along a more veteran lineup.
It’s good they’re bringing Luke Wilson-err Chris Drury back. It seems like his slight promotion within NYR org hints at potentially his promotion to GM in the next few years
I think a big reason why Drury pulled his name out of the Pittsburgh job and hasn’t received a job yet is because he doesn’t want to go far from his family in Connecticut. If a jobs were to open up in NJ, NY or BOS I think he would leave.