Poll: Rangers supporters have low faith in Chris Drury and the front office.
Going into the 2024–25 season, New York Rangers supporters don’t seem to be very confident in general manager Chris Drury. According to a survey by The Athletic, the Rangers front office is ranked 17th in terms of fan confidence, despite having three consecutive seasons with 100 points and making it to the Eastern Conference Final in two of the previous three with Drury as general manager.
It’s evident that the Rangers Faithful has higher expectations and isn’t fully committed to the present Rangers management taking this club to the Stanley Cup despite their recent success, which included winning the Presidents’ Trophy the previous season. Anything less than a championship is considered as a failure by a fan base that has only witnessed one Stanley Cup in the previous 84 years.
Drury finds himself in a difficult situation, to put it mildly.
The Rangers, one of the best teams in the NHL, were rated an overall C+ by fans in The Athletic survey. The New York team’s draft and development prospects under Drury most infuriated the fans. The Blueshirts got a D+ in that particular category.
Additionally, the Rangers front office was graded C- for transactions and salary cap management.
Dom Luszczyszyn stated, “The cap management grade feels extra perplexing given the team’s current spending.” While the Jacob Trouba deal isn’t ideal, there are worse situations for other clubs. Maybe we should start concentrating more on all the positive aspects rather than the few weak points on a cap sheet that features amazing agreements for Adam Fox, Vincent Trocheck, and Chris Kreider if it is the only negative contract.
There are several reasons why fans of the Rangers might not be very enthusiastic about the team’s current situation. First off, with the Rangers short on salary-cap room on July 1st in free agency, Drury was one of the more reserved general managers. While major players were being signed by the handful, Drury was only able to acquire forward Reilly Smith through trade and sign fourth-line center Sam Carrick. Competitors like as the New Jersey Devils made significant roster improvements in the meantime.
Ten places higher than the Rangers in seventh place in terms of fan confidence are the Devils, who missed the playoffs the previous season. The off-season actions taken to acquire Jacob Markstrom. Ranger supporters seem to be lacking optimism right now, but Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, and others gave their fan base that. This is true even though the Rangers outperformed the Devils by 33 points in the previous year.
It should be mentioned that when votes from supporters of other NHL clubs were tallied, the Rangers received substantially better grades. For example, in the NHL fan survey, the Rangers scored an A- in roster building and no less than a B-.
However, Rangers supporters gave far worse grades. Although their own fan base gave the Rangers the best mark possible for roster building, that grade was still just a C.
Many supporters of the Rangers are beginning to question the core of the club, aside from Drury. Fox, Igor Shesterkin, Mika Zibanejad, Kreider, and Artemi Panarin have all had outstanding regular-season performances. Some players have a habit of disappearing from the playoffs when it counts the most, but Shesterkin is definitely not one of those players. Though it is difficult for Ranger supporters to see a playoff run coming to an end in this scenario.
Fan confidence is severely damaged when elite athletes fall short of expectations. Consider the Toronto Maple Leafs. With players like Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and others, they have a highly talented core. They are a very strong bunch. Despite this, they are rated 30th in terms of fan confidence, most likely as a result of their regular playoff first-round losses. The only teams rated lower than the Maple Leafs are the Los Angeles Kings (31) and the New York Islanders (32).
