The scope of Wednesday night’s Rangers/Capitals game was expected to be centered on a potential retaliation against Tom Wilson, but the stretch run will now include questions about the broader future of the franchise.
With just three games left in the season, New York CEO James Dolan has fired team president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton in a stunning move, even after the Rangers were eliminated from playoff contention on Monday.
According to the New York Post, assistant GM Chris Drury is a leading candidate to fill the role of general manager while the team searches for a new president, with franchise legend Mark Messier at the top of the list.
While the Rangers missed out on the postseason, the move comes as a surprise after the franchise has made big steps back toward relevancy in recent years. Gorton was a driving force behind the team’s rebuild initiative that began back in 2018, and put the team on the cusp of a playoff berth in each of the last two seasons, while also bringing in a star in Artemi Panarin.
In the New York Post’s report, Dolan was growing impatient with the rebuild, leading to Gorton and former Ranger goalie Davidson to be let go, with Davidson having been in his role for just two years.
The timing of the firings brought into question the relation to the team’s statement released on Tuesday regarding Wilson, who the statement said should be suspended indefinitely while calling out the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, but TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that the firings were unrelated to the statement, and the decision was due to underperformance.
New York is 26-21-6 on the season, its second straight winning season since Davidson began his tenure as team president.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch