Drury deserves a lot of credit!

[McRanger92]

Gorton was a mixed bag, largely positive. He could have been even more of a net positive had he NOT encountered the lottery "luck" that he did.

Anyway, with Drury, I liked a lot of the hockey ops moves he made, and while I hated the return on the Buchnevich deal, I understood premium value probably wasn't there. I liked how he didn't then spend right up to the cap and banked space for when we needed it. I like the coach hire. The TDL was generally brilliant. Even things like bringing in Reavo and extending him, I know some people hate that, but I absolutely maintain that was a great move for the team overall even if he's a marginal at best player on the ice. I like the contracts he did, other than Nemeth of course, though every GM (Gorton included) has handed out stupid deals.

I really like what he's done with the team and am eager to see how he handles things moving forward. People were that were calling him a clown, the worst GM ever, pining for the days of Gorton, etc. That was some clown shit. You can't evaluate a GM on his first off-season and nothing else. Also, people let their dislike of him as a player bleed into their opinion of him as a GM.

I also remember saying at the time, when everyone was freaking out that Dolan was reasserting control, that no--he's probably not. He's probably upset with an overrated JD and a mixed bag Gorton for not supporting the "f*** the DPS" message which I thought was great, and that he'd go back to his usual role as soon as things settled down.

I'm not always right but I nailed this start to finish and will take credit for it.

Spot on

 

[RangerBoy]

Edge said the Kings offered Kupari and a #1 pick to the Rangers for Buchnevich. Drury decided to accept the Blues offer because the Rangers liked Blais. They wanted an NHL roster player. The Rangers thought Blais could play up and down in the lineup. Kupari was a prospect at the time. Kupari started to establish himself as an NHL player this season. He played 57 games for LA this season.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Edge said the Kings offered Kupari and a #1 pick to the Rangers for Buchnevich. Drury decided to accept the Blues offer because the Rangers liked Blais. They wanted an NHL roster player. The Rangers thought Blais could play up and down in the lineup. Kupari was a prospect at the time. Kupari started to establish himself as an NHL player this season. He played 57 games for LA this season.

With only 6 career goals (0 in playoffs) I would still view him as more of a prospect.

 

[Larrybiv]

What about crediting Dolan for firing the previous regime?

Amazing how things can turn on a dime. Loved JD and even Gorton (gotta give credit to him as well) but what Drury has done in "filling out" the roster with much needed speed/defensive expertise has been a revelation. Hate to harp, but wish Sammy was playing, then we would really see what a solid 4th line could bring to the table.
I'm probably of the few that isn't surprised that we beat Carolina, and damned proud of it and THEM! #onehappycamper

 

[rangersfansince08]

What does Drury do to improve our 5 on 5 play next season? I guess we can hope for internal improvements, resign Copp and Motte and calling up Cuylle, Othmann and Jones?

 

[NikC]

I appreciate what Gorton did but felt he started getting in his own way. I didn't like the Quinn signing which was a failure.
Drury was watching and learning, and as a player knows what it takes to go the next level. His acquisitions were all key additions.

 

[Larrybiv]

What about crediting Dolan for firing the previous regime?

Amazing how things can turn on a dime. Loved JD and even Gorton (gotta give credit to him as well) but what Drury has done in "filling out" the roster with much needed speed/defensive expertise has been a revelation. Hate to harp, but wish Sammy was playing, then we would really see what a solid 4th line could bring to the table.
I'm probably of the few that isn't surprised that we beat Carolina, and damned proud of it and THEM! #onehappycamper

 

[Peltz]

Drury used the Buchnevich cap space for the Rangers trade deadline moves. The cap space accrued during the season and the Rangers had flexibility to add numerous players at the deadline. If the Rangers had signed Buchnevich to one year contract as a self-rental, they would not have had the room to add other players.

It's a good way of looking at it.

 

[Kords]

 

[Kocur Dill]

I know its impossible but I still wish we had Mats Zuccarello and JT Miller to help us vs Tampa Bay.

You could put Rooney between Panarin/Zuccarello and he'd be a 60pt Center.

 

[Larrybiv]

Agreed, with the cap space we had at the TDL, it was the moves he didn't make that spoke as many volumes as the moves he did.

It was responsible and patient asset management, but the moves made were still enough to add depth and not screw over players like Zib, Kreider, shesterkin, and Panarin in their prime.

I love the restraint and the focus on highly respected role players rather than marquee names.

Oh, you mean like Eichel? What a joke, had that been made. Wonder exactly "how close" we actually were. Thanks to the heavens that didn't happen.
Btw, he's probably playing black jack, right about now after watching us advance and saying; "oh, what could've been".

 

[NickyFotiu]

Oh, you mean like Eichel? What a joke, had that been made. Wonder exactly "how close" we actually were. Thanks to the heavens that didn't happen.
Btw, he's probably playing black jack, right about now after watching us advance and saying; "oh, what could've been".

I have to admit I was intruiged by Eichel but after seeing Duguays reasons not to trade for him I cooled off.

 

[Larrybiv]

I really like what he's done with the team and am eager to see how he handles things moving forward. People were that were calling him a clown, the worst GM ever, pining for the days of Gorton, etc. That was some clown shit. You can't evaluate a GM on his first off-season and nothing else. Also, people let their dislike of him as a player bleed into their opinion of him as a GM.

I'm not always right but I nailed this start to finish and will take credit for it.

Good point. I'm thinking not only that wouldn't be fair, but probably is NECESSARY for him to properly evaluate "what he has" and what is necessary to try and fix. Strengths and weaknesses, what players would fit in, what players need to go, evaluating cap etc.
Can't do all that, as soon as you sit in the chair. Patience.......and look how it's paid off.
These kids (including k'Andre and Shesty are going to be, and (somewhat already are) the 2nd coming of what should be a very long winning decade and a half.
4-5 years later will be the most difficult in exactly HOW and WILL Drury be able to "let go" of stars like Panarin, Zibby & Kreids in order to get something very valuable BACK. Hmmmm. Happy that's not my job.

I have to admit I was intruiged by Eichel but after seeing Duguays reasons not to trade for him I cooled off.

I missed that, I think. Can u enlighten me? Thanks bud.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Good point. I'm thinking not only that wouldn't be fair, but probably is NECESSARY for him to properly evaluate "what he has" and what is necessary to try and fix. Strengths and weaknesses, what players would fit in, what players need to go, evaluating cap etc.
Can't do all that, as soon as you sit in the chair. Patience.......and look how it's paid off.
These kids (including k'Andre and Shesty are going to be, and (somewhat already are) the 2nd coming of what should be a very long winning decade and a half.
4-5 years later will be the most difficult in exactly HOW and WILL Drury be able to "let go" of stars like Panarin, Zibby & Kreids in order to get something very valuable BACK. Hmmmm. Happy that's not my job.


I missed that, I think. Can u enlighten me? Thanks bud.

Hey Larry. It was a while ago so I can't remember exactly some reasons Doogs didn't think he was the kind of guy to lead a winning team nor was he worth the salary/trade price.

 

[n8]

Motte-Goodrow-Reaves >>>>> Howden-Rooney-Blackwell

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

Drury has to be a slam dunk to be a finalist for GM of the year right? They vote on that after the 2nd round I believe. Pretty dumb award obviously because so much of roster building takes years to see the pay off but in this scenario with his off season moves and especially the deadline moves he has to be a shoo-in I’d imagine.

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

Gorton was excellent as a "peace time" GM. He had the same rep when he set the Bruins up for their decade of success during his first stint, and I have no doubt he will rebuild the Canadiens well. His issue was that he was too slow to realize the window was open, and it cost him his job.

Bingo. This is the real reason Gorton got fired and it was probably the right decision all things considered. He was great in his role as the transitional GM and the decision to send the letter and declare a full on rebuild was unique and smart. The sell off yielded a strong system and smart moves for players who can contribute now (Mika, Trouba, Panarin) were made. I do think he was hesitating on taking the next step though and the talk that if him and JD returned that DQ would've returned too just proves that further. I also think since he was the builder and architect of the team from sell down through rebuild that maybe he was "too close" in some ways which was causing him to want to be too patient.

Drury comes in and realizes the time is right to take action to push the team to the next step and he makes a few shrewd moves in the Buch trade (he didn't get enough but unfortunately moving Buch was the right move) and bringing in Goodrow and Reaves. The Nemeth signing was a miss but the logic made sense.

 

[Kakko]

The fact that he identified and acquired the right players at the deadline, instead of just whoever's good already puts him above most GMs.

Nobody's ever gonna love the Buch trade, but cap aside, it is in line with the other "culture" moves they made, which people are happy with. And not that it changes anything, but I shudder to think about the ice time the kids would have gotten with Buch here...

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Gorton was excellent as a "peace time" GM. He had the same rep when he set the Bruins up for their decade of success during his first stint, and I have no doubt he will rebuild the Canadiens well. His issue was that he was too slow to realize the window was open, and it cost him his job.

He had so many haters on this board that defended Quinn to the death because the Rangers apparently sucked and no coach could get them in the playoffs. Maybe Gorton was of the same opinion.

 

[H00fHearted]

I was looking at the final details of the Copp trade, and since it involves the pick Drury got for Buch I put together what I think is a more complete picture of the combined moves. This seems like a good place to share it. If I have this right I'm seeing:

Trade #1

Blais and the Blues 2nd round pick (2022) for Buchnevich.

Trade #2

Copp and Jets 6th (2023) for Rangers 1st (2022), Blues 2nd (2022), Rangers 5th (2023) and Morgan Barron.

Combined results

Copp, Blais and Jets 6th (2023) for Buchnevich, Rangers 1st (2022), Rangers 5th (2023) and Morgan Barron.

If the Rangers can resign Copp without having to overpay too egregiously, I don't think this is a bad result at all.

 

[AKA Chief]

Don’t forget Braun, significant upgrade over Nemeth.

Sure...but who signed Nemeth?

I did not think Drury went far enough at the trade deadline. You'll remember that trade deadline when many folks thought the Rangers should not make a big move because the Rangers were 2 or 3 years away from being true contenders. Well, history has proven that POV to be wrong. The rangers are contenders, but history may also be proving that Drury did not have to make any bigger moves.

I will be at game 2 tonight and I hope at the end of the season I am eating crow about praising Drury as GM of the year.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Sure...but who signed Nemeth?

I did not think Drury went far enough at the trade deadline. You'll remember that trade deadline when many folks thought the Rangers should not make a big move because the Rangers were 2 or 3 years away from being true contenders. Well, history has proven that POV to be wrong. The rangers are contenders, but history may also be proving that Drury did not have to make any bigger moves.

I will be at game 2 tonight and I hope at the end of the season I am eating crow about praising Drury as GM of the year.

Because of the moves they made at the deadline?

Copp, Vatrano and Motte have all been pretty key contributors, especially Copp who has been doing it with both of his line mates being mostly ineffective or just flat out terrible (I realllly hope that tide is turning with Panarin.)

What more should he have done in your eyes? Because while I don't completely disagree that as I would have preferred to go in a bit more (looming cap crunch, oodles of space we had available, etc.), I don't think its really fair to ignore the moves that he DID make and the impact that they're having.

I don't think winning the whole thing really constitutes as the only way that these moves can be deemed "successful" either. I know you didn't say that, but it was implied. The experience (especially the comebacks) and opportunities for some players to show how they're going to perform in these moments has been incredibly valuable.