N.Y. Rangers: Draft Will Confirm Who's Really In Charge

From the desk of:  RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS

Talking Tough Is One Thing; 

Drafting Tough Is Another

New York Rangers: David Quinn Named New Head Coach.

I'm not going to pretend I know anything about David Quinn, because I don't.

Nor do I care ...

I'm more concerned with the upcoming June entry draft.  Because if Jeff Gorton selects another bunch of Smurfs, then David Quinn is going to coach Smurfs.  If Jeff Gorton selects a bunch of gargoyles, then David Quinn will coach gargoyles.  If he drafts big tough two-way players with requisite speed, then Quinn will coach such players in a relative manner.

I will simply say Quinn sports a fine resume, and that I welcome a new start with a fresh face.

He becomes the 20th head coach I remember well.  I came to learn of Emil "the cat" Francis only after the famed coach's run with the Rangers ended.  The very first head coach I care to recall is Jean-Guy Talbot, whom otherwise left no real lasting impression upon me.

Fred Shero was head coach when Ron Greschner and the Rangers advanced by the hated New York Islanders en route to the 1978-1979 Stanley Cup finals.  He only lasted two seasons behind the bench (blame Barry Beck), but is worthy of an honorable mention.

Herb Brooks brought his authoritarian style - not to mention his Olympic gold medal - to Madison Square Garden in 1981 and becomes the first head coach I genuinely rallied behind.  Developing a bunch of college kids into TEAM USA and defeating the mighty Russians in 1980 earned Brooks a ton of respect.  Not unexpectedly, though, his taskmaster tactics wore thin with established NHL veterans and would be replaced by the same person he himself succeeded as head coach, i.e., Craig Patrick.

Seemingly out of nowhere, in steps Ted Sator whom astonishingly takes the original cast of off-Broadway Smurfs all the way to the conference finals.  Just as quickly, though, he also steps through and disappears beyond the Eighth Avenue steam pipes.

Fast forward ... Roger Neilson is the first Rangers head coach to win the President's Trophy.  However, like Mark Messier I couldn't stand the guy nor his system.  The Rangers clearly were in need of a major kick in the posterior, and Mike Keenan was the absolute right guy to administer just that.  But because Rangers head coaches traditionally have the lifespan of a fruit fly, Keenan left after just one (Stanley Cup) season.

Rangers fans were for the most part behind his successor, Colin Campbell.  It's just that general manager Neil Smith started making some ponderously awful trades for sake of prolonging an increasingly futile run for another Cup.

Enter the Glen Sather era ...

His body of work spanning 2000-2004 on its own should have qualified as a fire-able offense.  Unfortunately in the eyes and mind of James Dolan, the omniscient Sather can do no wrong.

John Tortorella's arrival finally marks the first time Sather starts taking seriously actual NHL level player development.  I believe now as I did back then that Tortorella slammed the brakes on Sather's impatience regarding young inexperienced players and prospects.  I'm convinced Torts did indeed hold sway over Sather, by effectively taking charge of an emerging group of players (drafted by Jeff Gorton), letting them develop together, and giving them a sorely needed identity.  If left to his own device, Glen Sather very likely would have traded many eventual endearing players, away.

However, due to his already obnoxious and increasingly erratic behavior, Torts absolutely earned his dismissal.

Shame ... (Rick Nash really let him (us) down).

Tortorella is then replaced with the diametrically opposite Alian Vigneault, whom I wanted fired the minute he was hired.  If the Canadiens didn't want him, and the Vancouver Canucks fired him in an effort to increase toughness, then I certainly didn't want Vigneault coaching the Rangers.  Let's be clear - he took Tortorella's team to the Stanley Cup finals.  But that team then underwent considerable changes to better suit Vigneault's style, of which Glen Sather was all in.  And where did that get Tex's Rangers?

Hence the genesis of today's condition.

Rewind back to the organization's statement announcing a change in direction.  My untrained ears heard Jeff Gorton wanting to gut this pig.  But I also heard Glen Sather in the background whining about wanting to rebuild while staying competitive at the same time (which we know is complete garbage nonsense).  I think Jeff Gorton recognized this as well, and may have gone so far as calling out Sather over his repeated attempts at tomfoolery (as I suspect Tortorella once did).

While serving as both assistant and interim general manager for Boston, Gorton played a large role in building up the Bruins as we know them today.  Yet, he was dismissed from Boston and hired by Sather with haste to replace Don Maloney (whom accepted the general manager's position with the Phoenix Coyotes) as head of scouting and development.  Gorton, therefore, has been a front row witness to Sather's follies for the past twelve years.  And at this juncture in his career I believe he can get an NHL job anywhere there's a need for a qualified general manager.

Therefore, why wouldn't Gorton issue Sather an ultimatum, i.e., either the rebuild goes according to his plan, or he seeks employment elsewhere.  After thinking the situation through, my fantastical scenario says Sather gave Gorton his blessings to proceed forward.

And, he did ...

• February 20: Nick Holden remarkably traded to Boston in exchange for defender Rob O'Gara and Boston's third round pick 2018 draft.  I wouldn't have given the NYR three pucks and a roll of tape ... but that's just me.  Rob O'Gara is 24-years old, 6'4" 215 lbs.

• February 23: Michael Grabner traded to rival New Jersey Devils in exchange for defender Yegor Rykov and Newark's second round pick 2018 draft.  Yegor Rykov is 20-years old, 6'1" 205 lbs.

• February 25: Rich Nash traded to Boston in exchange for three players (Ryan Spooner, Matt Belesky, and prospect defender Ryan Lindgren), plus the Bruins first round pick 2018 draft, and their seventh round pick 2019 draft.  Ryan Lindgren is 20-years old, a stocky 5'11" 203 lbs.

• February 26: Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller traded to Tampa Bay Lighting in exchange for forward Vladislav Namestnikov, prospects Libor Hajek and Brett Howden, the Bolts first round pick 2018 draft, and a conditional second round pick 2019 draft.  Defenseman Libor Hajek is 20-years old, 6'2" 196 lbs.  Centerman Brett Howden is 19-years old, 6'2" 193 lbs.

The 2018 NHL entry draft is less than thirty days away.

With an eye towards the future, Jeff Gorton spoke of becoming a more physical team.

With his mind on the present, David Quinn spoke of being a physical team.

Fine.

Now we find out who's really in charge.

Talking crunch is one thing; drafting crunch is another.  If it turns out being the latter, then Gorton is calling the shots.  If it turns out being the former, then we know Sather is still firmly in charge.