Chris Drury’s Offseason Will Define His Tenure as Rangers General Manager

It is safe to say that Drury is not done making moves this offseason, and there are plenty of trade rumors out there involving key players on the team. Guys like K’Andre Miller, Alexis Lafreniere, and Mika Zibanejad have all been brought up as potential trade candidates, and all of them could fetch a significant return if they were moved. However, it doesn’t seem that Zibanejad is likely to move due to his no-move clause, and with Lafreniere, Drury would be selling low on him, and he just gave him a seven-year extension earlier this season. The most likely player to move is Miller due to him being an RFA, and due to the fact that he simply hasn’t panned out in the way many thought he would. Retools are hard to do in a short period of time, and for Drury, he does not have many options in who to move out that would shake up this team. Trading Kreider was a start, but the question is who’s next, and what will they get in return?

How Will Drury Handle Free Agency?

This year’s free agency class is one of the weaker ones in recent memory. Outside of a player like Mitch Marner, there is no true superstar player available this offseason that would be worth the price they are going to ask for. This free agency class has mistake written all over it, and with the salary cap going up and teams having extra money to spend, there are going to be some questionable deals handed out when free agency opens. For Drury, he won’t need to go big game hunting this offseason, but he is going to need to sign some players to help fill out the roster. While there could be some intriguing names that would improve the top six of the forward group, like Brock Boeser and Sam Bennett, they are not going to be worth the long-term and big money they will command. If Drury wants to be smart this offseason, he needs to find low-cost, high-upside players that can help plug some of the holes in the lineup going into next season.

However, there is one player of name value that would be a very interesting addition to the team if he does hit the free agent market. That player is Brad Marchand, who is having the series of a lifetime in the Stanley Cup Final as a member of the Florida Panthers. He has 10 goals and 22 points in 20 games in the playoffs, with six of those goals coming in the five games against the Edmonton Oilers. He is having an impressive showing for a 37-year-old coming off an injury-filled season. This performance is going to up his price on the market, but the Rangers could use a player like him on the team. He can come in and be an instant leader in the locker room, and if he ends up winning it all this season, he will have two Stanley Cups to his name. He brings the skill and grit that Drury is looking for, and while he is up there in age, he is showing that age is just a number, and if he hits the open market, Drury should be on the phone with him asking what it would take to get him to New York.

Drury’s Tenure So Far

Drury has had an up-and-down tenure in his four full seasons as GM so far. He took over for Jeff Gorton after he was fired alongside John Davidson near the end of the 2021 COVID-shortened season. His first offseason was one to forget with the horrible Pavel Buchnevich trade to the St. Louis Blues and the failed attempts to get Jack Eichel from the Buffalo Sabres. He instead signed Barclay Goodrow and Patrik Nemeth to horrible contracts and traded for Ryan Reaves to make the team tougher. They did get to the Eastern Conference Final in the 2021-22 season, so the season was seen as a success. He added Vincent Trocheck as a free agent that offseason and made some major in-season acquisitions in 2022-23 when he traded for Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko. While the team looked deadly on paper, they were embarrassed and eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the New Jersey Devils in seven games after having a 2-0 series lead.

While many were calling for a certain player to be traded, Drury instead fired head coach Gerard Gallant after two seasons and hired Peter Laviolette to replace him. He kept the core players around, and it resulted in the best regular season in franchise history, and they won the Presidents’ Trophy to go along with it. Once again, they failed to get it done in the playoffs, and Drury once again kept the core players around for this season, and we all know how that went. There was plenty of roster turnover, and after all the moves were made, only seven players remained on the team that were part of the 2022 Eastern Conference Final team. It has become clear that Drury is finally ready to break up this core, but is it two years too late?

This fanbase is very divided on Drury and the moves he has made so far. Some defend him like their lives depend on it, and others want him fired after every move he makes. This offseason, especially, is going to be one where fans are going to keep a close eye on what moves Drury makes to help improve this team. If the team gets back to being Stanley Cup contenders, then it will be seen as a success. If they once again fail to make the playoffs and look even worse next season, Drury’s time as GM will likely be over.