Gretzky as next Rangers GM?

[nsvoyageurs]

This from Adam Proteau; unlikely it happens, just a thought.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/stamkos-a-leaf-gretzky-the-new-rangers-gm-one-is-more-likely/

Speaking of Gretzky: now that he’s been repaid money owed to him from his time with the Coyotes, The Great One has been expected to return to the NHL in some working capacity. Last summer, there were whispers he was in line for the then-vacant New York Rangers coaching job and his fellow legendary Oiler/Ranger Mark Messier would join him as Blueshirts GM once 70-year-old Glen Sather retires. That didn’t happen on either front, and Messier wound up departing the Rangers organization for a consulting job with Edmonton.

However, is it possible Gretzky gets hired as Rangers GM instead? We all know how franchise owner James Dolan loves putting former-star athletes in charge of his Madison Square Garden empire’s teams and Gretzky fits that bill perfectly. His presence in the world’s biggest media market undoubtedly would be welcomed by league brass as well. Gretzky doesn’t have NHL GM experience per se, but was director of hockey operations for the Coyotes and famously constructed Canada’s 2002 Olympic gold-medal-winning team. The Rangers also represent something Gretzky never had in Phoenix: an unlimited ownership checkbook allowing him to be as creative and aggressive as he wishes.

There’s nothing to suggest Gretzky will soon join the Rangers. But for a lot of reasons, this is a much better fit for him than just about any other NHL destination.

Not saying this will or should happen, but Gretzky has done more as a "General Manager" than Messier has done as a "coach".

Click to read more...

 

[Kane One]

Not a chance. Gorton is the next GM and if Sather ever decides to retire, he'd just appoint Gorton himself.

 

[I Eat Crow]

It's going to be Gorton.

Not sure how I'd feel about it. Could be Isiah Thomas all over again, or it could work out.

 

[doncherrysgrill]

Maybe it'll be Isiah?

 

[nsvoyageurs]

I'd rather have Gretzky as the GM now!

 

[Radek27]

Can't we just bring Neil Smith back, you know the only GM to win us an actually Stanley Cup

 

[TheTakedown]

Can't we just bring Neil Smith back, you know the only GM to win us an actually Stanley Cup

Yeah I don't know why this hasn't ever been considered...

Although considering I was between the ages of 4 and 8 during his tenure here, I wouldn't really know

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

Isn't he like real old now?

 

[GarretJoseph*]

Can't we just bring Neil Smith back, you know the only GM to win us an actually Stanley Cup

I liked Smith. We got the cup but I didn't like his deals in 94. I feel it was more Keenan who made those deals (Amonte / Gartner)

IMO the Amonte / Zubov deals hurt us. Wasn't it Smith who gave that Nordic kid (DF) away to LA also turned out to be a stud.

Can't hate though he did bring the cup home.

 

[bmw2004]

Neil Smith is 60 years old now.

 

[Radek27]

Neil Smith is 60 years old now.

And? What does that have to do with anything? Wayne Gretzky is 52 years old now.

 

[aufheben]

What's sad is that Neil Smith would be over a decade younger than Sather.

Maybe in 15 years we can get a GM who's 50! Ad infinitum

 

[Baumer582]

I liked Smith. We got the cup but I didn't like his deals in 94. I feel it was more Keenan who made those deals (Amonte / Gartner)

IMO the Amonte / Zubov deals hurt us. Wasn't it Smith who gave that Nordic kid (DF) away to LA also turned out to be a stud.

Can't hate though he did bring the cup home.

Neil Smith was the GM for a Stanley Cup, but he may have sold his soul to the devil to get it.

And after '94, he was worse than you could possible imagine.

That defenseman he traded in '96 was Mattias Norstrom. That was with a solid Ray Ferraro in a rental of Jari Kurri and Marty McSorley..... Whiff..

Could have traded Kovalev for Pavel Bure straight up early in '98 and passed. Ended up getting Nedved instead.... Whiff

And his drafting???? Sweet mother of God. With the exception of Kovalev, go ahead and name a Ranger draft pick worth a damn from 1990-2000. Pick any round. You can't. (Nicklas Sundstrom in 93 and Dan Cloutier in 94 were marginal NHL players, and the '99 haul of Pavel Brendl and Jamie Lundmark was abysmal, though Brendl wasn't all his fault). That team had no players to call up or build a team with. Not dealing with a salary cap and having Hall of Fame players like Messier and Leetch covered up the frightening lack of depth the Rangers had all throughout the 90's.


Bottom line is, for all of this boards *****ing about Sather, he came into one hell of a mess. He tried to sign every FA available because the team had ZERO, I repeat, ZERO players in the pipeline. That was all Smith's fault.

As far as I'm concerned, that one Cup isn't enough to make him a "good" GM. There's a reason he hasn't had one NHL job in the 14 years he's been gone. (His weeklong tenure with the Isles doesn't count)

Suffice to say, I am much more of a Sather fan than a Smith fan. I'm actually amazed that any fan here who remembers the years from 98-04 (the end of Smith and before Sather started the proper rebuild) would even consider Smith a better GM than Sather.

 

[Radek27]

Neil Smith was the GM for a Stanley Cup, but he may have sold his soul to the devil to get it.

And after '94, he was worse than you could possible imagine.

That defenseman he traded in '96 was Mattias Norstrom. That was with a solid Ray Ferraro in a rental of Jari Kurri and Marty McSorley..... Whiff..

Could have traded Kovalev for Pavel Bure straight up early in '98 and passed. Ended up getting Nedved instead.... Whiff

And his drafting???? Sweet mother of God. With the exception of Kovalev, go ahead and name a Ranger draft pick worth a damn from 1990-2000. Pick any round. You can't. (Nicklas Sundstrom in 93 and Dan Cloutier in 94 were marginal NHL players, and the '99 haul of Pavel Brendl and Jamie Lundmark was abysmal, though Brendl wasn't all his fault). That team had no players to call up or build a team with. Not dealing with a salary cap and having Hall of Fame players like Messier and Leetch covered up the frightening lack of depth the Rangers had all throughout the 90's.


Bottom line is, for all of this boards *****ing about Sather, he came into one hell of a mess. He tried to sign every FA available because the team had ZERO, I repeat, ZERO players in the pipeline. That was all Smith's fault.

As far as I'm concerned, that one Cup isn't enough to make him a "good" GM. There's a reason he hasn't had one NHL job in the 14 years he's been gone. (His weeklong tenure with the Isles doesn't count)

Suffice to say, I am much more of a Sather fan than a Smith fan. I'm actually amazed that any fan here who remembers the years from 98-04 (the end of Smith and before Sather started the proper rebuild) would even consider Smith a better GM than Sather.

There were tons of rumors of who he didn't deal Kovalev for, another popular one was Shanahan but these are just rumors, not proven facts. How do you know how Smith would do in a cap league? He started a rebuild which you admit but was not allowed to finish. I do agree with you that after 94 he dealt away too many assets but that was due to trying to make another run at the cup while we still had Mess, remember that nice run in 97?

 

[nsvoyageurs]

Smith is a hockey analyst for Rogers Sportsnet in Canada.

I agree that when he left and Sather came in, the organization had nothing in terms of depth and prospects. There was the ill-fated spending spree in the summer of 1999 when they signed Fleury, Kamensky, MacLean, Quintal, etc. Whether Smith did those on his own, or someone in upper management told him to get all those guys, they got little from them. Of course the Nordstrom trade involving Kurri, McSorley, etc. was almost the ultimate blow up in their face trade. I still don't like the Knuble to Boston trade. We all know Keenan made Smith make those 1994 trades (they won the Cup that year, so they worked).

There are reasons Smith has only had a short stint with the Islanders as their GM and hasn't really been considered a serious GM candidate elsewhere since the Rangers let him go.

 

[Cassano]

Smith is much better than Sather, I approve.

 

[RangerBoy]

Messier wanted the Rangers coaching job because there wasn't a front office job for him. Messier had a job but he wasn't getting THE job. Then Messier left the organization.

Everyone in Canada is obsessed with Gretzky getting back into the NHL. LA,Toronto and the Rangers are always mentioned. There are no jobs available in those organizations.

 

[pld459666]

don't want Gretzky anywhere near the GM position here.

Don't want Gorton there either.

but hells no to Gretzky

 

[Miamipuck]

Neil Smith was the GM for a Stanley Cup, but he may have sold his soul to the devil to get it.

And after '94, he was worse than you could possible imagine.

That defenseman he traded in '96 was Mattias Norstrom. That was with a solid Ray Ferraro in a rental of Jari Kurri and Marty McSorley..... Whiff..

Could have traded Kovalev for Pavel Bure straight up early in '98 and passed. Ended up getting Nedved instead.... Whiff

And his drafting???? Sweet mother of God. With the exception of Kovalev, go ahead and name a Ranger draft pick worth a damn from 1990-2000. Pick any round. You can't. (Nicklas Sundstrom in 93 and Dan Cloutier in 94 were marginal NHL players, and the '99 haul of Pavel Brendl and Jamie Lundmark was abysmal, though Brendl wasn't all his fault). That team had no players to call up or build a team with. Not dealing with a salary cap and having Hall of Fame players like Messier and Leetch covered up the frightening lack of depth the Rangers had all throughout the 90's.


Bottom line is, for all of this boards *****ing about Sather, he came into one hell of a mess. He tried to sign every FA available because the team had ZERO, I repeat, ZERO players in the pipeline. That was all Smith's fault.

As far as I'm concerned, that one Cup isn't enough to make him a "good" GM. There's a reason he hasn't had one NHL job in the 14 years he's been gone. (His weeklong tenure with the Isles doesn't count)

Suffice to say, I am much more of a Sather fan than a Smith fan. I'm actually amazed that any fan here who remembers the years from 98-04 (the end of Smith and before Sather started the proper rebuild) would even consider Smith a better GM than Sather.

The Zubov deal alone should assure him of getting kicked in the nuts every waking second for the rest of his life. Then when he passes for all of eternity.

Back on topic: Hell no to Gretzky, Messier or any stupid choice for GM. Let an experienced personell/scout/player development guy get the job, not a publicity stunt.

 

[pld459666]

Smith is a hockey analyst for Rogers Sportsnet in Canada.

I agree that when he left and Sather came in, the organization had nothing in terms of depth and prospects. There was the ill-fated spending spree in the summer of 1999 when they signed Fleury, Kamensky, MacLean, Quintal, etc. Whether Smith did those on his own, or someone in upper management told him to get all those guys, they got little from them. Of course the Nordstrom trade involving Kurri, McSorley, etc. was almost the ultimate blow up in their face trade. I still don't like the Knuble to Boston trade. We all know Keenan made Smith make those 1994 trades (they won the Cup that year, so they worked).

There are reasons Smith has only had a short stint with the Islanders as their GM and hasn't really been considered a serious GM candidate elsewhere since the Rangers let him go.

the "ill" fated signings during the summer of 1999 were, as NS stated time and again, done to bridge a gap for when the next wave of Rangers started coming up.

NS stated that he was done moving kids for Vets and that he was now going to try to build the team from youth.

Fleury had just come off a 93 point season - 18 mill over three years was a good contract for him.

Kamensky was a bit overpaid, but again, 3 years at just over 10 million was not terribad considering the numbers he had been posting.

Quintal was a blunder signing only coming to NY for the $$ he publically stated he never wanted to leave Montreal and was traded after the first season.

Lefebvre was not so much a blunder. Again, taking this in for what it was, a signing to bridge a gap, he was a solid/decent 2nd/3rd pairing guy.

Taylor was in NY what he was in Detroit and Boston prior and Tampa Bay after. A 3rd line/4th line tweener that can kill penalties.

And for the record, I believe it was Dolan that held a closed door meeting with the team after the 98-99 season ended and publically proclaimed that the team was going to spend some money to bring in some of the top UFA's available that summer.

He said it, NS did it and got fired a year later.

Neil Smith made some very horrific trades that pretty much bankrupt the team of any youth during the Messier Years. But he had a team that COULD compete for a Stanley cup year in and year out. He has an obligation to do what he can to win it.

He did take that to an extreme and that hurt the franchise quite a bit.

The Trade that he DIDN'T make and should have made was at the 1998 draft. Colorado wanted Malhotra and was offering 3 of their 4 first round picks that year for the Rangers 7th overall selection.

Maybe the Rangers spit the bit on those picks, maybe they take Tanguay, Gomez and Regehr?

Changes the fate of the franchise as the following year they don't have to make the big splash. Maybe they keep Cloutier, Sundtrom and Savard and their first rounder in 2000.

Smith gambled wrong that Colorado would capitulate and give up all four 1st rounder they had.

Oh well.

 

[KreiMeARiver*]

yes, we got a Cup, but we also traded away all our good young players to get it, then traded Zubov. This led to...you guessed it...the dark ages.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

"Gretzky doesn’t have NHL GM experience per se", so yeah, he's the perfect fit then.

 

[McRanger]

the "ill" fated signings during the summer of 1999 were, as NS stated time and again, done to bridge a gap for when the next wave of Rangers started coming up.

NS stated that he was done moving kids for Vets and that he was now going to try to build the team from youth.

...

Sorry but this is all just excuse making.

People complain about the mediocrity of our recent teams, those teams would have died for mediocrity.

If there was EVER a time for the Rangers to completely tank and rebuild it was after Gretzky left in '99. The Rangers were losing their best player. Our early-mid 90's stars, Leetch, Graves, Richter were all in their 30's. Beuk was gone. And they were already one of the worst teams in the league.

Signing those guys was an attempt to get back near the playoffs when the team desperately needed a complete overhaul. They needed an overhaul even if the 3 top 10 picks Smith had in '98 and '99 did not bust.

Neil Smith was a terrible GM outside of his first two years. He couldn't draft and when he did more often than not he traded the good players away in bad deals. His solution to everything was to throw money at it. You can't do that today. The cap world is unforgiving.

In the end Smith is no better than Sather. Compare his tenure with the Rangers to Sather post-Gretzky. Actually Smith had such a penchant for trading young players he might worry me more than Sather. And that is saying something.

Neil Smith? Barf.

Time to stop with the '94 fetish. No more retreads. If Gorton isn't the guy then bring in some new blood.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

"Gretzky doesn’t have NHL GM experience per se", so yeah, he's the perfect fit then.

Yeah, but he was an Oiler and Lil Jimmy has heard of him!

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

Would be incredibly stupid, and just the type of dumb "big shot" hire that Dolan could make.