There are a multitude of reasons why Chris Drury decided to pull the trigger on a deal for J.T. Miller and change the trajectory of the Rangers.
The New York Rangers’ move to acquire J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks brings clarity to Chris Drury’s current thought process.
The entire season Chris Drury has been underwhelmed by the team’s core as he’s been eager to make changes.
In November, Drury sent out a league-wide memo indicating New York’s interest in making moves and shaking up their roster.
With the season spiraling out of control, the Rangers traded Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks and Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken.
Through the entirety of December, the Rangers recorded a 3-10 record as their playoff hopes seemed to be dwindling by the day.
However, the Blueshirts somehow bounced back and after a hot couple of weeks, they now find themselves right back in the playoff hunt.
Still though, the Rangers have major flaws and don’t seem to be a Stanley Cup contender let alone even a playoff team in many people’s eyes.
Based on previous reports, the Rangers were trending on selling at the Mar. 7 NHL Trade Deadline.
NHL insider Frank Seravalli reported a few weeks ago that the Rangers will likely be sellers at the trade deadline but long-term buyers.
This Miller trade completely contradicts that previous report from Seravalli and there are a couple reasons why Drury’s mindset has shifted.
He may have looked at New York’s recent stretch as a sign that the team can indeed compete this year.
Miller is a player who is coming off of a 103-point season, but his value is at an all-time low due to his struggles this year and off-ice drama circulating around a reported feud between Miller and Elias Pettersson.
This was an opportunity to get a star talent at a discount, and Drury took full advantage.
The Rangers’ veteran core consisting of Igor Shesterkin, Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, Vincent Trocheck, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad have a small window to win a Stanley Cup, which likely played a factor in Drury’s decision to pull the trigger on the deal for Miller.
This also very well could have been a move by Drury out of fear of losing his job. If Drury’s job was secure, he likely would have waited a couple of weeks to assess where his team is at and make decisions based on where the Rangers stand in the playoff picture.
Instead, Drury rushed into a trade that is a major risk given Miller is 31 years old and will be under contract for multiple more seasons, making $8 million per season.
Regardless if the Rangers got solid value in this trade, Drury put the team in complete win-now mode when they are yet to show any sort of reason why we should believe they are Stanley Cup contenders.
Rangers owner James Dolan is known to be impatient. Based on intuition not reporting, Drury may have felt his job on the line and was insistent on making this move in a last ditch effort to save the season and keep his position in the organization.
There’s a lot on the line now and only time will tell to see if Drury’s gamble will pay off.