Chris Drury doesn’t have a good reputation. The general manager of the Rangers is said to be a specialist in micromanagement, obsessed with control, preaching secrecy and possessed of a certain paranoia.
According to some, the rout of the Rangers, opponents of the Canadian on Sunday, during the first half of the season could be attributed to a general feeling of fed up in the New York locker room.
Yes, the former Nordiques third-round pick [en 1994] is a special case. He’s definitely leading a little too far. But as with all conflicts, there are two sides to the coin.
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Chronicler of New York Post assigned to cover the Rangers since 1994, Larry Brooks followed this series with great interest.
“I am aware that he is the one who seems to be the villain in this story, but I do not agree,” maintains the renowned columnist, reached by telephone earlier this week. Could he have been nicer? Possibly. Did he flatter players in the wrong way? Maybe. But what I do know is that the guy means business. It’s big business.”
In fact, three events involving Drury made major New York sports headlines in the second half of 2024. The departure of Barclay Goodrow to San Jose (he was claimed on waivers following a shady move by the Rangers), the notice sent to the 31 other general managers of the circuit informing them that he was ready to receive offers for Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider and, ultimately, the transaction involving Trouba.
“No matter who leaked the information on the notice, it shouldn’t have been the end of the world because there are always rumors. But the team’s response was horrible, said the columnist admitted to the Hall of Fame in 2018. They won only four of their next 17 games.
“Let them grow up a little”
If we have already seen players slow down in the hope of seeing their head coach lose his job, this time, we can wonder if it is not Drury who we wanted to see receive his 4%.
“I know it was a topic of discussion [aux quatre coins de la ligue]but that was never going to happen,” insists Brooks.
Drury is a loyal soldier of owner James Dolan. But that’s not all.
-“He managed to get rid of a fourth-line center [Goodrow] which cost him $3.6 million and a captain [Trouba] who had lost the sacred fire. We are talking about a saving of $11.36 million. Not just for this season, but for the next two,” argued the venerable journalist.
“By the way, if the players were upset with the way it ended with Goodrow, let them grow up a little,” he added.
Besides, those who think that Montreal quickly catches fire have seen nothing.
“We heard so many stories during the first three months of the season that at a certain point it became difficult to separate fact from fiction,” Brooks said. Someone on a podcast claimed the players held a team meeting to talk about Drury. Others mentioned players having had their no-movement clauses terminated. It was completely false.”
Trouba, the lame duck
In Brooks’ opinion, it was Trouba’s behavior that undermined troop morale. Not to mention a troublemaker, the columnist of New York Post argued that the defender was a big distraction.
“I always loved Jake [Jacob Trouba]. I have always defended him. Even when the world wanted him suspended for 20 games. He was a good leader, Brooks said. But, this season, he was bitter.
Brooks says Trouba and his camp were fully aware of Drury’s intentions toward him. And this, since the elimination of the team last spring. Rather than accept his fate, he would have put obstacles in the way of his general manager.
“He simply decided to block all attempted transactions,” Brooks explained. I didn’t think it would have an impact on the season. But I was in the field. He arrived and he wasn’t the same. It became a lame duck and it spread into the locker room.”
Everything now seems to be back to normal. Since 1is January, the Rangers are 5-2-1. An upcoming return to the playoff race is not impossible.
