OFFICIAL: Glen Sather Stepping Down As Team President, Jeff Gorton to Remain GM
The team announced that Sather will remain with the organization as a senior advisor to owner James Dolan as well as an alternate governor. Jeff Gorton will remain in his current role, and not promoted.
It is officially the end of an era. The New York Rangers confirmed the news that broke Wednesday night that Glen Sather would be stepping down as team president, a position he’s held since 2000.
OFFICIAL: #NYR President Glen Sather is transitioning from his current role to become Senior Advisor to the owner and alternate governor.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 4, 2019
The organization will begin an immediate search for a new President, with Jeff Gorton continuing in his current role as the team’s GM. pic.twitter.com/RxltT3Mpt4
The release also stated that Jeff Gorton will remain the team’s general manager. Theoretically the Rangers could have promoted Gorton — hired as a pro scout in 2007 and promoted to general manager in 2015 — to the role of team president and hire or promote someone to back fill.
That is not happening, and instead the Rangers will be starting a search to fill Sather’s position. The Blueshirts aren’t the only franchise looking to fill the position of team president, and it will be interesting to see if there is any overlap with candidates that the Ottawa Senators have reached out to.
Per Sportsnet, #Sens have approached Ron Francis, Trevor Linden, Dean Lombardi, Joe Nieuwendyk, Steve Yzerman in their search for the pres. of hockey ops position. Brian Burke chimed in stating an asst. to a senior exec of a NHL club is assisting with the search.
— Murray Pam (@Pammerhockey) April 4, 2019
It has also been reported that John Davidson could be a strong candidate.
Expect #CBJ president of hockey operations John Davidson to be a strong candidate to replace Glen Sather, who is stepping down as president of the #NYR.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 4, 2019
The great @NYP_Brooksie, who first broke the story of Sather stepping down, has mentioned Davidson as a candidate. @staytuned
One name not listed here is Peter Chiarelli, and he’s one that the Rangers likely won’t consider given the fact that he relieved Gorton of his duties while he was in Boston.
There are just two games left for New York, and I am certain that once the regular season is over we will start to hear rumors about potential candidates. The names of potential candidates will tell a lot about the direction the team wants to go in, and whether or not they will continue with a conservative approach to the rebuild.