History between Gorton and Drury: don’t get your hopes up for a habs-Rangers trade

Mathis Therrien
History between Gorton and Drury: don’t get your hopes up for a habs-Rangers trade
Credit: Twitter screenshot

Yesterday, big news hit the National Hockey League hard, as Chris Drury, general manager of the New York Rangers, announced via an official letter that his team would be going through a “retool.”

The club isn't living up to expectations, so changes are needed in the line-up, as the Rangers currently languish in last place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 20-22-6 in 48 games.

And by the same token, the Rangers' announcement led to an even bigger one, as it was revealed that New York would be trading its star player, Artemi Panarin.

This news obviously set social networks ablaze, with fans from every NHL team keen to see their team acquire the 34-year-old Russian forward.

Among these excited fans are undoubtedly those of the Canadiens.

However, don't get too excited about the possibility of the Rangers making a deal with the Habs to give them one of their best players in the wake of their “retool.”

Why not?

Because of the history between Jeff Gorton, President of Hockey Operations for the Habs, and current Rangers GM Chris Drury.

Indeed, as we all know, before joining the Habs organization, Jeff Gorton was the general manager of the New York Rangers.

Gorton was fired under rather nebulous circumstances in 2021, when the Rangers published their letter to fans explaining their rebuild.

And who took his place?

Chris Drury.

So, as Renaud Lavoie explained last night on TVA Sports' JiC, there's clearly a history between the two men, which makes a potential deal between the two teams more difficult.

Let's just say that the Rangers won't want to give the Habs a gift for one of their players like Panarin or Alexis Lafrenière.

We'll have to keep an eye on this one, but we can be sure that Kent Hughes will make inquiries about Panarin and the other Rangers players.

It's the least you can do to be on the case when such a player becomes available.


Overtime

– Unbelievable. He's just too good for the league.

– To be followed closely.

– Too bad.

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