Chris Drury Has No Discernible Plan
The Vincent Trocheck non-trade is the latest in a series of decisions from Chris Drury that do not add up to a cohesive or effective plan.
The 2025-26 season has been the second straight truly miserable campaign for the New York Rangers. But that’s old news at this point.
The more concerning—and frankly, depressing—component is what lies beyond. There is no clear path forward. No identifiable direction. No evidence of a cohesive vision guiding this organization.
The brunt of the blame for this predicament falls on team president and general manager Chris Drury.
Yes, it’s easy in professional sports (and certainly not unique for fans and observers of the Rangers) to over-blame the GM. After all, GMs have to answer to owners who often interfere and are more worried about one-off playoff gate revenue and cost-cutting (despite being billionaires) than building sustainable winners. Sometimes other circumstances come into play that a GM can’t control.
Nevertheless, a GM must always have a vision that’s clear and conducive to success. He must pick a lane, and one that is logical and consistent.
Chris Drury has not done that.
The Trocheck Situation
At last Friday’s 2026 trade deadline, Drury opted to hang on to his most valuable trade chip: Vincent Trocheck.
The reasoning? Apparently, he did not get an offer that met his high demands. He was holding out for a bigger return that never materialized.
#NYR GM Chris Drury: "It didn't make any sense to do something just to say we did it, or to do something just because we wrote a letter."
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) March 6, 2026
On the surface, that level of restraint sounds admirable. Trocheck is a critical trade piece. You don’t want to sell low, especially after the underwhelming Artemi Panarin trade.
But context matters.
Yes, Trocheck still has three years left on his contract after this one. But he turns 33 before the start of next season. His value will likely never be higher than it was at this deadline. He is still a productive, playoff-proven center who can do a bit of everything, who comes with cost certainty, and who is still basking in the glow of his strong glue-guy performance for the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic hockey team.
If the rumored package from the Minnesota Wild (prospect Charlie Stramel, a 2027 first-round pick, and perhaps an ancillary piece) was indeed on the table, would that have been a super-exciting return? No.
But will that offer even exist in the summer? Or next season? Or when Trocheck is 34 or 35, and languishing on a team that’s unlikely to be good anytime soon?
Delaying a decision is still a decision in its own right. And that decision might prove to only shrink Drury’s leverage and thus his ability to extract at least a decent return for Trocheck.
