Is Rangers general manager Chris Drury on thin ice after hearing fans' fury at MSG?
Rangers GM Chris Drury speaks to the media at Rangers training camp in Tarrytown on Sep. 17, 2025. Credit: Ed Quinn
It’s been a frustrating season for Rangers fans, and on Monday night, after Shane Wright’s third-period goal gave the visiting Seattle Kraken the lead on the way to dealing the Blueshirts a fourth consecutive loss, the fans in Madison Square Garden vented.
“Fire Drury,’’ they chanted, meaning Chris Drury, the Rangers’ president and general manager.
The chants only lasted a few minutes. But they were loud enough, and went on long enough, to be clearly heard by everyone in the building. That would include owner James Dolan, who was in attendance, and certainly Drury himself.
Dolan, who promoted Drury to president and GM in 2021, after firing then-president John Davidson and GM Jeff Gorton, isn’t going to be swayed by the opinions of a few hundred (a few thousand?) bitter fans after the Rangers blew an early two-goal lead and lost, 4-2, to the red-hot Kraken.
But he should at least consider it.
The Rangers (20-21-6) are 5-12-4 at home and six points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They are near the bottom of the conference standings, one point ahead of last-place Ottawa and Columbus.
The Rangers' roster, which is missing injured goalie Igor Shesterkin and defenseman Adam Fox at the moment, is short on talent. And most of its best players – Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck, Shesterkin and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov are 30 or older. Fox will be 28 next month.
And with none of the biggest potential free agents (Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Kirill Kaprisov, et al) having decided to test the market this summer, it’s unclear how the Rangers can get better anytime soon.
Drury will have to trade Panarin, who’s in the final year of his contract, at the deadline, in order to try and re-stock the prospect pipeline. And when he does, who will replace the Russian and drive offense for the team? And what young players are waiting in the wings?
Drury’s first draft pick, Brennan Othmann in 2021, has yet to stick with the big club and is reportedly being shopped around the league. Gabe Perreault, the 2023 first-round pick considered the organization’s top prospect, is learning on the job. Rookie Noah Laba, a 2022 fourth-round pick, forced his way onto the roster in training camp and has been a nice find as a solid third-line center. But there aren’t many other names in the system who excite the fanbase.
Among Drury’s free agent signings, Trocheck and Gavrikov have been wins, as has goaltender Jonathan Quick, who despite not having won a game since Nov. 7, has been an excellent locker room leader and backup to Shesterkin. One of his first signings, Patrik Nemeth, didn’t work out at all, though.
The first two coaches he hired, Gerard Gallant and Peter Laviolette, each made the conference final in his first season and then got fired after his second. When Mike Sullivan got let go by the Penguins, Drury finally got the coach he wanted and made him the highest paid coach in NHL history, with a reported five-year, $6.5 million per year deal.
Dolan gave Drury a multi-year contract extension last May (before he hired Sullivan), despite the fact that the Rangers suffered through a disappointing 2024-25 season and missed the playoffs. The team made the Eastern Conference finals in two of the first three seasons Drury ran it, and in his first year, 2021-22, Drury was a finalist for the Jim Gregory Award as NHL GM of the Year.
However, he did so with a roster made up mostly of players assembled by Gorton. Barclay Goodrow and Ryan Reaves were Drury’s biggest additions to the roster, along with trade deadline acquisitions Frank Vatrano, Andrew Copp, Tyler Motte and Justin Braun. None of those players is still with the club.
In that first year, Drury traded away first-line right wing Pavel Buchnevich to St. Louis for fourth-line winger Sammy Blais and a second-round draft pick. Blais suffered a torn ACL in his first season with the Rangers, never scored a goal for them in 54 games, and eventually was traded back to St. Louis.
Drury also traded Brett Howden to Vegas for a fourth-round pick (which was used to take Laba). Howden has become a key contributor for Vegas and helped the Golden Knights win a Stanley Cup in 2023.
It’s been, at best, a mixed bag for Drury, who also fired a lot of non-hockey-playing personnel when he took over.
The Rangers, who underwent a full rebuild in 2018, now need a renovation. Should Drury be the one to do that?
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
