Chris Drury Promoted To Associate General Manager
The New York Rangers have given Chris Drury a shiny new title, promoting him from assistant general manager to associate general manager. He will remain general manager of the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. The team explains that in his role, Drury will “continue to assist Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton on all player transactions and contract negotiations.”
Drury had recently been linked to the Pittsburgh Penguins GM search, before suddenly removing himself from contention earlier this week. In all likelihood, this promotion is the reason why.
For the Rangers, losing a promising young executive like Drury to a rival like Pittsburgh would have been unwise. The 44-year-old Drury was not only a star player in the NHL, with a Stanley Cup championship and two Olympic medals, but he was a Rangers captain and has been a rising star since joining the management side. In 2019 he was even tapped by USA Hockey to GM the World Championship squad and was set to have the same role in 2020 before the tournament was canceled.
At some point down the line, Drury will become a GM in the NHL. It will be interesting to see whether that is in New York at some point, with Gorton either departing or moving into a different role. They won’t be able to keep Drury around forever if he truly wants control of a franchise.
Latest On Pittsburgh GM Search
Feb 3: Though Drury was a top candidate and the team asked for permission, he will not be getting an interview. Bob McKenzie of TSN reports that Drury has informed the Penguins he is not interested in leaving New York City or the Rangers at this time. That’s a pretty high profile snub, but Drury and the Rangers have been very loyal to each other over the last several years and it shouldn’t come as a total shock that he wants to stay with the organization at this time.
Feb 2: The Pittsburgh Penguins have started the interview process for their next general manager after Jim Rutherford‘s sudden resignation last week, but the candidate list is still a long one according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The insider reports that the New Jersey Devils are not going to let Tom Fitzgerald—who is currently their GM but only signed to that position through this season—interview, but Frank Seravalli of TSN tweets that the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins have granted permission to interview Chris Drury and John Ferguson Jr., respectively.
Drury, the assistant general manager of the Rangers, has been on the GM track for several years and is a top candidate for basically every job that opens. An NCAA champion, Stanley Cup winner, and two-time Olympic silver medalist as a player, Drury made a quick climb through the executive ranks and was named GM of Team USA at the 2019 World Championship. He’ll be a GM somewhere, though up until now the Rangers had been keeping him away from other opportunities.
Ferguson Jr. is another story, though his inclusion shouldn’t be scoffed at just because of his previous failures. The veteran front office member took over as GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2003 and found little success, but has been climbing back up the ranks and building his reputation since his firing in 2008. He has worked as Boston director of player personnel since 2014 and as GM of the Providence Bruins since 2016, with his name often coming up in connection with openings around the league.
Friedman offers up another couple of names that hadn’t been mentioned before: Joe Nieuwendyk and Jason Karmanos. The former was the GM of the Dallas Stars between 2009-2013 but has been behind the scenes in recent years. The latter is kind of a shocking inclusion, given he was fired from his role as AGM with the Penguins in October.
Even though the list of candidates is long, the Penguins are expected to try and hurry along with a decision in order to have a GM in place as soon as possible. Currently, the team is being run by interim GM Patrik Allvin, with help from owner Mario Lemieux.
TSN’s Frank Seravalli has confirmed another NHL executive on the Penguins’ shortlist later in the evening: Colorado Avalanche Assistant GM Chris MacFarland. The Avs have given Pittsburgh permission to interview MacFarland, who joins Drury and Ferguson as confirmed candidates. Seravalli adds that this process could move quicker than some may have expected. He notes that the Penguins have received interest in the vacancy from upwards of 20 legitimate names and hope to have their list of six or seven candidates whittled down by the end of the week. He goes so far as to say that the team hopes to have hired their new GM within the next two weeks.
East Notes: Drury, Palmieri, Blackwell, Eller
While earlier reports have suggested that the Pittsburgh Penguins have focused on two candidates for their open general manager position in Los Angeles Kings’ Ron Hextall and Montreal Canadiens’ Scott Mellanby, another candidate, New York Rangers’ assistant general manager Chris Drury had become a longshot due to the belief that the New York Rangers wouldn’t be granted to interview with the Penguins.
However, New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that the Rangers would not stand in the way of Drury becoming a general manager, although as of Saturday afternoon, there had been no such request from Pittsburgh. The 44-year-old Drury has become one of the most sought-after assistant general managers in the league and the scribe believes that the Rangers are well aware that they will lose Drury to a GM opportunity sooner than later.
- The New Jersey Devils are playing without forward Kyle Palmieri who was a late scratch today as the team announced that he will not play due to a COVID-related absence. Palmieri, who played Saturday, joins a growing list of Devils that is starting to give New Jersey more of an AHL than NHL look. The team is still without Mackenzie Blackwood, Connor Carrick, Aaron Dell, Travis Zajac and Sami Vatanen, although The Athletic’s Corey Masisak reports that Vatanen has finally arrived in Newark and could be ready to go soon.
- The New York Rangers are expected to be without forward Colin Blackwell for seven to 10 days due to an upper-body injury, according to The Athletic’s Rick Carpiniello. Despite playing bottom-six minutes for New York so far this year, Blackwell has been productive, posting a goal and two assists in four games. The 27-year-old winger signed with the Rangers during the offseason after appearing in 27 games for Nashville last year.
- The Washington Capitals had an optional practice Sunday with Alex Ovechkin and Dmitry Orlov on the ice to get their legs back in after sitting out due to COVID-19 protocols. Both played Saturday, but in limited minutes. However, Lars Eller continued to skate after suffering an upper-body injury Thursday, according to the Washington Post’s Samantha Pell. He, however, remains in a non-contact jersey.
Ron Hextall And Scott Mellanby To Interview For Pittsburgh’s GM Position
The Penguins aren’t wasting time when it comes to their sudden GM search. Rob Rossi of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that Pittsburgh has already received permission to speak to two of their desired candidates in Los Angeles (Ron Hextall) and Montreal (Scott Mellanby).
Of those two, Hextall is the only one with general manager experience at the NHL level as he held the post with Philadelphia from 2014 through late 2018. He had been out of the league since then until rejoining Los Angeles as a senior advisor; he had previously served as their assistant GM before getting the job with the Flyers.
As for Mellanby, he has been with the Canadiens since 2012 after leaving St. Louis as an assistant coach. He was promoted to assistant GM back in 2014 and has held that role ever since. He has been a candidate for most vacancies around the league the last couple of years although he hasn’t gotten that opportunity just yet.
Meanwhile, current interim GM Patrik Allvin will get the first interview for the position. He has been with Pittsburgh since 2006, holding several different roles along the way. Rossi notes that Pittsburgh already has a shortlist of five external candidates to consider (although Rangers assistant Chris Drury isn’t likely to be granted permission to interview) although they will cast a wider net from there. Their hope remains to have a decision made within the next month.
Snapshots: Penguins, Lapointe, WHL
The vacant general manager position in Pittsburgh is a tricky but appealing role for many executives around the hockey world, and Pierre LeBrun rattled off an early list of candidates on the latest edition of TSN’s Insider Trading. Jason Botterill, Chris Drury, Mark Hunter, Tom Fitzgerald, Ron Hextall, Peter Chiarelli, Scott Mellanby, Mike Gillis, Laurence Gilman, John Ferguson, and Mike Futa are all on Pittsburgh’s radar and LeBrun believes the team wants to have the next GM in place over the next few weeks.
In the same segment, Darren Dreger speculates on the future of Pittsburgh’s star players and believes whoever comes in would owe it to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang to have a conversation about the direction of the franchise. Don’t jump to conclusions and think that Crosby is all of a sudden on the trading block, given CEO David Morehouse’s claim that the team is still in “win-now” mode, but if Pittsburgh misses the playoffs this season they will be a fascinating situation to keep an eye on.
- One front office member likely not on that list of candidates? Martin Lapointe, who has signed a three-year extension with the Montreal Canadiens to continue as director of player personnel through the 2023-24 season. Lapointe will also take on the role of director of amateur scouting, making him even more integral to the operation in Montreal. The former NHL forward was first hired as director of player development in 2012 and has worked his way up the front office ladder. He is on track to be a GM of his own down the road if he wants to be.
- The WHL has been granted approval to return to play in the province of Alberta, starting their season on February 26. The five WHL clubs based in Alberta—the Red Deer Rebels, Edmonton Oil Kings, Lethbridge Hurricanes, Medicine Hat Tigers, and Calgary Hitmen—will form the Central Division and play a 24-game regular season entirely within the province. The league continues to work with the health officials in the other provinces and states to try and establish a start date for East, B.C., and U.S. divisions this season. There are WHL teams based in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Washington, and Oregon.
Chris Drury Withdraws From Florida’s GM Search
The Panthers have cast a wide net as they look to find a replacement for former GM Dale Tallon whose contract was not renewed. In recent weeks, Scott Mellanby, John Ferguson Jr., Bill Armstrong, Laurence Gilman, Sean Burke, Ron Hextall, and Kevin Weekes have all interviewed for the position, and Florida Hockey Now’s adds Peter CHiarelli and Eddie Olczyk to the list as well. Rangers Assistant GM Chris Drury additionally interviewed for the vacancy. However, as Florida sets their shortlist for the next round of interviews, Drury has withdrawn his name from consideration, reports Larry Brooks of the New York Post.
Drury has been with New York since 2015 when he started as their Director of Player Development. He was promoted to assistant GM the following year and became GM of AHL Hartford in 2017 as well. In 2019, he got his first international GM assignment when he headed up Team USA at the World Championships. That experience made it no surprise when he came under consideration to replace Tallon.
His name has come up for several GM vacancies around the league over the years so while he won’t wind up with this job, it only seems like a matter of time before Drury gets a chance to run his own NHL team. No reason for withdrawing from this search was given.
Meanwhile, Brooks adds a couple more names to the list of candidates in former Boston and Edmonton GM Peter Chiarelli and Blackhawks/NBC analyst Eddie Olczyk. He mentions that both are expected to be among the finalists for the position.
Panthers Receive Permission To Interview Rangers Assistant GM Chris Drury
While the Panthers have a couple of months before the offseason opens up, it appears that they are looking to fill their GM vacancy quickly. Last week, Canadiens assistant GM Scott Mellanby and former Kings executive Mike Futa were linked to Florida and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in the latest Saturday Headlines segment (video link) that Rangers assistant GM Chris Drury has received permission to interview for the position.
Drury has been with the Rangers since 2015 when he joined them as their Director of Player Development. The following year, he was promoted to assistant GM and became GM of AHL Hartford in 2017 as well. In 2019, he got his first international GM role when he was in charge of Team USA at the World Championships where they lost in the quarterfinals. Given his experience, his name has come up for several GM vacancies around the league over the years.
Friedman adds that Bruins assistant GM John Ferguson Jr. and Maple Leafs assistant GM Laurence Gilman are also believed to be interview targets although those have not been finalized as of yet. Ferguson Jr. spent five seasons as Toronto’s GM from 2003-04 through 2007-08 while Gilman hasn’t had the opportunity to be a GM at the NHL level.
Rangers Sign Jeff Gorton And Chris Drury To Contract Extensions
The Rangers have had an impressive season so far and have played themselves into the thick of the playoff race. They appear to be past their rebuilding stage and have a strong core in place. Ownership is clearly pleased with the direction of the team as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in the latest Saturday Headlines (video link) that New York has given GM Jeff Gorton as well as assistant GM Chris Drury contract extensions. Terms of the deals have not been disclosed.
Gorton is in his 13th season with the team and has held a variety of roles with the Rangers since coming to them from Boston for the 2007-08 campaign. He took over from Glen Sather as GM prior to the 2015-16 season and helped shepherd them through their rebuilding process which took a drastic turn last offseason when they traded for defenseman Jacob Trouba and handed out a record breaking contract to winger Artemi Panarin in free agency.
As for Drury, he finished up his playing career in New York, spending his last three NHL seasons with the Rangers with the last one being in 2010-11. Once Gorton took on his current role, Drury joined the front office, spending one year as Director of Player Development before taking on his current assistant GM title. He also currently serves as the GM for the AHL’s Hartford WolfPack and led USA’s entry into the World Championships a year ago. He’ll undoubtedly attract some interest as other GM vacancies become available across the league.
Gorton will have some work cut out for him this summer when it comes to the salary cap. Even after moving blueliner Brady Skjei to Carolina at the trade deadline, they still have a little over $67MM in commitments for next season with several key young players (goalie Alexandar Georgiev, defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, and forward Ryan Strome) all in need of new contracts with arbitration eligibility. That will take up a big chunk of their remaining cap room so if Gorton wants to make another big addition this summer, he’ll need to free up some space first.
Peter Laviolette Named Coach Of 2020 U.S. National Team
Though he’ll have to wait for his next opportunity in the NHL, Peter Laviolette will be back behind a bench this spring. Laviolette has been named head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team that will take part in the IIHF World Championship. The tournament will be held in Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland between May 8-24. Chris Drury, the team’s general manager, released a short statement on the hiring:
It’s great to have Peter as our head coach. He brings significant international experience, both as a player and a coach, and his passion and desire to win align with our goal of bringing home the gold medal.
The ironic part about this appointment is that many believed John Hynes to be a candidate for the job, before he was hired to replace Laviolette with the Nashville Predators. It also represents a different voice than Jeff Blashill, who had led the team the last three years.
Laviolette isn’t new to the international scene, having served as head coach of the World Championship entry three times previously and acting as an assistant coach at both the Olympics and World Cup. He’ll try to take Team USA to the gold for the first time since 1960.
Chris Drury Named GM Of 2020 U.S. National Team
USA Hockey has announced that Chris Drury will be back in his role as general manager of the 2020 National Team. Drury served as GM last year, while also holding down duties as assistant GM for the New York Rangers and GM of the Hartford Wolf Pack. He’ll be joined by an advisory group made up of John Vanbiesbrouck, David Poile, Don Waddell, Dale Tallon, Stan Bowman, Jeff Gorton and Bill Guerin.
Drury will be in charge of creating the team for the IIHF World Championship, this year held in Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland between May 8-24. The team finished seventh last year.
Vanbiesbrouck, who is the assistant executive director of USA Hockey, released a short statement on Drury’s hiring:
Chris had an exceptional playing career and is an emerging star as a manager. We’re really pleased to have him back as the general manager of our men’s national team, and coupled with our Men’s National Team Advisory Group, we’re fortunate to have what is truly an all-star group engaged in helping us assemble a team that can compete for a gold medal.