It was an interesting Monday for the Rangers as they shuffled some of the roles in their front office. The question being asked by Ranger fans though is Glen Sather putting a plan into action for who will replace him as Ranger General Manager?While we talked about this last week the moves on Monday made the changes as official but there is a bit of curiosity because of them. With Cameron Hope leaving, the Rangers promoted Scott Gorton from Assistant Director of Player Personnel to Assistant General Manager.
The Rangers also promoted Professional Scout Kevin Maxwell to Director of Professional Scouting. Maxwell has been with the Rangers since 2007 as a scout.
Borrowing from the Armed Services then the chain of command for the Rangers now looks like this:
Leadership
Glen Sather- President, General Manager and Alternate NHL Governor (James Dolan serves as Governor for the Rangers)
Jim Schoenfeld- Assistant General Manager, Player Personnel, Assistant Coach and General Manager, Hartford Wolf Pack; Assistant Coach
Jeff Gorton- Assistant General Manager
Gordie Clark- Director of Player Personnel
Kevin Maxwell- Director of Professional Scouting.
Specialists
Mark Messier- Special Assistant to the President
Mike Barnett- Senior Advisor to the President and General Manager and Director of U.S. Amateur Scouting
Doug Risebrough- Hockey Consultant
Adam Graves- Hockey and Business Operations.
The move of Gorton as the replacement for Cameron Hope is an excellent one as Gorton who was a former Assistant GM as well as Interim GM with the Boston Bruins. While Jim Schoenfeld has done a very good as Sather's main assistant; Gorton is a very skilled trader (ask Toronto about the Raycroft for Rask trade).
Maxwell takes the responsibilities of managing the Professional Scouts off Gordie Clark's hands which frees up Clark to concentrate on the Player Development/Amateur Scouting side of things.
Say what you wish about Glen Sather but if he is planning his retirement then Ranger fans cannot complain about how he is putting together the future of the Front Office. The Rangers now have 2 former NHL GMs and 4 former Assistant GMs on their staff.
But is Sather planning to retire any time soon though? At 66 one has to wonder how much longer Glen Sather will want to run the Rangers but if he is looking to turn things over to someone else, the Rangers are in good shape.
What the moves on Monday should not be seen as is a knock on Mark Messier or that he is not being no longer seen as a possible future Ranger GM. Messier from all reports has been learning the business side of hockey and doing a pretty good job at it.
Still it is very hard to see James Dolan turning the Rangers over to Messier without Sather's recommendation. Bypassing Schoenfeld and now Gorton would not be a good idea.
Still going to go with the Sather turns over the GM duties to Schoenfeld most likely after this season and remain as Ranger President. If the NHL lockouts the players again then it might also be the time when Sather totally retires rather than go through another work stoppage
The Price Is Right Or Let's Make A Deal
Maybe the Rangers should hire Drew Carey or Wayne Brady and conduct the contract talks with Dubinsky, Callahan and Boyle using the game shows both guys host.
The one Ranger who grew up wanting nothing more than to become a Ranger gets treated at times like he is evil. Known the kid for several years and that it totally not him.
Dubinsky wants to get a deal done with the Rangers, really he does and he is not asking for the moon either. What Dubinsky is not going to do is just roll over for the Rangers as we are talking his future here.
Asking for arbitration is not because he wants to hold up the Rangers for a ton money; quite the opposite. All three RFAs took arbitration because salary aside they want to remain as Rangers.
Seriously it is getting kind of old watching people thinking that Dubinsky wants the moon when it is not even close to the truth. If Dubinsky was wanting the moon then he would not have filed for arbitration.
It is funny as Ryan Callahan is in the same boat as Dubi and yet nobody seems to think that Callahan is going to ask for the moon like Dubinsky. Nothing at all against Callahan but he is no more/less loyal to the Rangers as Dubinsky and yet he is not at all being questioned about his motives for filing for arbitration.
It is really a strange situation for 2 players who both give heart and soul to the Rangers and their fans.
(Sather and Dubinsky courtesy of the NY Rangers)
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