New York Rangers Hire Ari Vuori

As announced on Friday, the New York Rangers have added Ari Vuori to their front office as Director of European Scouting.

Vuori, 60, is an esteemed name in NHL circles with plenty of relevant and successful experience. Getting his start as a European Scout with the Los Angeles Kings in 1996-97, he stayed with the team all the way until 2007, partially responsible for drafting star Europeans such as Olli Jokinen (1997), Lubomir Visnovsky (2000), and most notably Anze Kopitar (2005).

That success continued during a stint with the Detroit Red Wings from 2008-2015, but Vuori has most recently served as the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Director of European Scouting since then. Over the past few seasons, the Maple Leafs have consistently been one of the most active teams in bringing over European free agents and sometimes making solid impacts, most notably Ilya Mikheyev.

With Vuori in the fold, the Rangers immediately have an upgraded front office. He’ll undoubtedly steer the teams’ assessments of European talent in the right direction and provide a valuable liaison with incoming European free agents.