Chris Drury promoted to Rangers associate GM
Chris Drury talks to press inside the Rangers' locker room in 2009. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Days after he reportedly turned down the chance to take the job as general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chris Drury was promoted to Rangers associate GM, the team announced Friday.
Drury, 44, will continue his duties in serving as GM of the Rangers’ AHL affiliate in Hartford, as well as continuing to assist GM Jeff Gorton in trade and contract negotiations. The promotion from assistant GM is no doubt in recognition of the fact he has now twice declined opportunities to be a GM elsewhere. On Wednesday, he took his name out of consideration for the Pittsburgh job, which was unexpectedly vacated due to the resignation of Jim Rutherford. Last season, he took himself out of consideration for the Florida job, choosing instead to stay within the Rangers organization.
Drury, who has served as the GM of the U.S. team for the World Championships, played 12 seasons in the NHL, for the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres and the Rangers. He won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year with Colorado, and served as team captain in both Buffalo and with the Rangers, for who he played from 2007 to 2011. He returned to the team as director of player development in 2015, and was promoted to assistant GM in 2016.
As a college hockey player at Boston University, he won the Hobey Baker Award as a senior in 1998. He also won the Little League World Series as a 12-year-old with his hometown team of Trumbull, Conn.
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.
