2 days Ago By Tom Castro, The Hockey Writers
New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury is polarizing. That’s not the least bit unique to him; pretty much every Blueshirts GM has held that distinction at some point, given the team’s emotional, demanding and rabid fanbase. No personnel head for the Original Six club has ever just been “fine,” and Drury, having grown up in nearby Trumbull, Conn.
as a Rangers fan, might understand that better than any of his predecessors. One fact about Drury’s tenure that can’t be disputed, however, is this: On the eve of his fourth NHL Draft in charge, it’s simply too early to judge the first three. Drury has generally received positive reviews from talent evaluators for his front office’s selections, though again, it’s not possible to accurately assess any of those: Only one players from those drafts, 2021 first-round forward Brennan Othmann, has played in the NHL, and that was a three-game cameo this season.
While it’s hardly surprising that the Blueshirts have yet to reap any benefits from their draft picks over the past three years, the team’s final draft under the former regime of Jeff Gorton bore fruit in a big way in 2023-24 – the kind of effort that many GMs can only hope for on a regular basis. Gorton’s work in the draft from 2017-19, when the Rangers were in the process of entering a rebuild, was mixed at best, and his results on a top-10 pick in each of those years has left a lot to be desired. Yet the 2020 draft, conducted remotely with the world s.
