All Risk, No Margin: Drury’s Tightrope Walk Toward the Deadline

Chris Drury hasn’t gone through a rebuild or retool. At least, not as the general manager and leading voice in the room on an NHL club. As soon as the New York Rangers acknowledged the elephant in the room and released The Letter 2.0, the path forward became clearer, but much more precarious for Drury.

Navigating through securing a return for Artemi Panarin that actually makes a difference is already tough enough, but publicly stating intentions can be risky when you’re struggling to grab a hold of any leverage with Panarin’s full no-movement clause in effect.

Going down this path, there are now two significant hurdles Drury must carefully consider and address.

Players Need to Be Protected from Injury

It’s all well and good that Panarin is on fire and torching every goalie he sees these days. But when it comes to one of your biggest deadline trade assets, there's truth in the saying less is more. At least, less (err, fewer) minutes, that is.

Yes, this has almost been a showcase of sorts, and Panarin’s offensive success is wonderful in terms of making teams considering trading for him desire him even more. But in what’s already been established as a lost season, there’s no need for Panarin to be pushing 22 minutes a game and being on the ice in the waning moments every night desperately trying to win—which could actually hurt the Rangers’ new plan for this season.

I understand this might be a departure from the norm—benching your star forward when your team needs offense—but managing his minutes and risk exposure is crucial, especially since the team is fielding offers to maximize what could already be an underwhelming return. I’m not even suggesting benching him for entire games. Rather, I'm advocating that Mike Sullivan prioritize playing other players during key moments.