New York Rangers Analysis: Why You Can't Compare Chris Drury To Markus Naslund

saving the New York Rangers precious cap space they would have used to buy him out.

I don’t think that it was a given, or even a possibility that Naslaund would have been bought out if he didn’t come back. Naslaund was 4th on the team in points that year, his 46 were below his total of the previous season, but not horribly off considering our woeful offense, and the fact he had been slowing down the past couple seasons when we signed him. Naslaund could have hung around another season and collected his check, but he realized he couldn’t compete at the level he wanted to, and he went and signed in Sweden.

Drury knew his options were slim if any, and he did what he did to grab the cash the easiest way he can get it. MSG could have made a good chunk of that cash up to him, over his “retirement”, if it was just about the cash. He also could have waived the NMC and gone to Hartford for the year to get his full paycheck. Being from Connecticut, it would have been like Naslaund retiring and then signing to play in Sweden. Dru did none of this. He’s ripped us off for years and now he found another way to do it on the way out the door. I hope the Michael Rosival Choir rains choruses of Boo’s on him the first time he tries to show up at the Garden, and every time after.

Naslund could see the end coming much clearer than Drury (is my best rough guess). Many a time during this summer, Drury seemed to be speculated that another team wanted his services (Detroit, San Jose, Anaheim). I imagine that when the offers dried up, he took it upon himself to bow out gracefully.

This might be the only slap on the wrist Sather may take this summer, but he should’ve shown a little more patience and talked to Drury longer. He should not have been so quick to decide to buy-out.

Now (at least for this season) the remaining balance is the New York Rangers’ responsibility, plain and simple.

Naslund was much easier to handle…not willing to move again and no takers in trade…coach’s head on a platter (Renney)…and the rebuilding was well underway. Naslund made up his own mind, while the gettin’ was good.

He made the right move for himself, ultimately that’s what it comes down to.

I’m gonna have to agree with Buck above…for the most part.

You can spin this any way you want really; my view is that he was being stubborn. Remember the reports that Drury would halt the buyout because he was “unfit to play”? He then dropped that and accepted the buyout.
I think its pretty clear that Drury’s knees are not where they need to be to play. The coaching staff (or was it training staff/doctors? can’t remember) called it a degenerative knee condition. It even sounded back then like he wouldn’t be able to play this year, health wise.
My guess is Drury didn’t want to believe that his career was over, but knew all along that there was no way he could start the season because he’d need rehab or something. Therefore, he took the buyout (which he apparently could have fought), and was looking around for another contract.
I don’t think its plausible that there is no room for a cheap, healthy Drury anywhere in the NHL. Think about it, he’s the ideal 3rd/4th line center, solid on faceoffs, great on defense/pk. If he were healthy, plenty of teams would take him for a cheaper salary. I don’t think it was about money. I think its more plausible that teams realized that his knees were not ready to go, and may not have ever been ready to go this season, because it’s a degenerative condition. Teams don’t want to take a chance on that shit with a contract.

Now I’m just speculating of course, but I think this scenario is just as possible as what Joe outlined above. Drury was being stubborn and did not want to believe that his knees would end his career. When no teams would take a chance on said knees, he was forced to retire. In reality, he could have accepted that fate earlier, and retired before the buyout/July 1. You can call him a battler, or a warrior, or whatever… I call him stubborn and delusional.

This team is going places and Drury is one of the most accomplished American born scorers. He’s 31st in point among all American born players, has two silver medals from the olympics, one stanley cup and a budding pizza franchise to boot.

Now let’s move on and look forward, not back.

Nice sentiment, Joe. It makes sense to me.

I can’t be upset about Drury. He could have said “no” to the buy-out … and considering that some unnamed source gauchely announced that Drury was a goner way before the move, I could’ve understood it if Drury’s response had been along the lines of, “Bite me.”

Honestly… Screw Drury… he was supposedly going to file a grievance with the PA at one point, thus declining the buyout… Remember he was diagnosed with a degenerative knee problems prior to his buyout, which meant it was only getting worse and he was probably going to hit LTIR, which means he was not going to play until near the end of the season if at all… how could one expect a contract?

He took the money and ran, he’s got two years of paychecks coming his way, yeah, you can’t blame the guy for getting his money, but to say he didn’t have an outside idea he was going to be forced to retire is a stretch at best… Naslund’s retirement was much more sudden than Drury’s IMO… he can take all of his class and professionalism with him as far as I’m concerned he was an atrocity on Broadway, we over paid a 2nd line center at best coming off a career year during the downslide of his career, not his fault.

In no way did I want to see his career ended by an injury, it just so happened thats how it played out, but he over stayed his welcome with the Rangers.

In ten years when he can barely walk due to his knees, who is going to take care of him? This money is not only for now, it is for the future. What happens if his business tanks in this economy? He made this decision purely from a business perspective, as he should have for himself. How many of you would really walk away from several million dollars? Comparing apples to apples, how many of you would walk away from 2 years of your salary at the end of your career? After taxes, agent fees, etc., I doubt players get to keep more than 40% of their stated contract amount.
We got what we wanted. We are moving up and not looking back. Purely business decisions. Too bad when we sign the players, we don’t always look at it that way.