Drury's buyout and what it means for Rangers this offseason
The New York Rangers announced yesterday that they have bought out the remaining year of captain Chris Drury’s contract.
The Rangers brought the 12-year veteran to the team, along with current Montreal Canadian Scott Gomez, in 2007 for his veteran prowess and ability to score. Unfortunately for the Rangers, his numbers, much like Gomez’s, dropped after two 30+ goal seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. In 4 seasons with the Rangers, Drury only scored 62 goals in 264 games, after scoring 67 with Buffalo in his last two seasons before coming to New York.
The Rangers seem to have an incredible ability to pick up all-star players when they stop playing like all-stars. Whether this was due to the Rangers’ style of play, which seems to be a lot of passing and not a lot of shooting, or simply the players themselves, they simply do not perform the same way they did on other teams when they come to the New York Rangers, and Drury was no exception.
Drury’s seasons only got worse as the seasons went on. After a poor 2009-1010 season, with a +/- of -10 and only 32 points (14 goals and 18 assists), Drury ran into some injury trouble this season.
A broken finger and a bad knee limited Drury to only 24 games this season and 1 goal. With Drury’s status uncertain due to his knee and his age starting to catch up with him, the Rangers decided it would be best to buy him out of the rest of his $3.3 million contract.
This move could mean a lot of things for the New York Rangers. Buying out Drury’s contract gave the Rangers some much needed cap space.
If they choose to take advantage of the cap space that they have just opened up, they might be able to acquire Brad Richards, who is becoming a free agent this offseason. A known goal scorer, Richards would be brought in for the same reason Drury was brought in for, to score.
Dropping Drury also gives the Rangers a chance to look to their farm system for some fresh, young talent. With Stepan and Anisimov all coming out of the Hartford Wolf Pack and being major playmakers for the current New York Rangers team, the Rangers might look to the Wolf Pack again and bring up a new forward to replace Drury.
This was a big first step in the right direction for the Rangers this offseason. Drury did not turn out to be the offensive scorer they expected him to be, and his status for next year was uncertain due to his knee injury.
Keeping him on the team for another season would do more harm than good if he ended up not even playing half the season like he did this year. It was better to let him to so they could acquire Richards or another player like him.
As far as the search for a new captain, which was now vacated due to Drury’s departure, I think that Ryan Callahan would be an excellent captain. Although he might be a little young, Callahan does it all for the Rangers; he scores, he passes well, he’s an excellent defender, he’s a good all-around player.
The younger rookies on the team would have Callahan’s work ethic to look at as a guide to how to play the game, and they would prosper under his example. Callahan is also slightly aggressive, and would stick up for his teammates the way a good captain should.
A new era has arrived for the New York Rangers. With Drury gone, nearly all of the “old-timers” on the Rangers have left the team, making way for younger, newer players.
If the Rangers are able to acquire some new players in the offseason, or find some young talent in the Wolf Pack, the Rangers could be serious contenders for the Cup in the 2011-2012 season.
