I Don’t Know What Makes a Good Director of Player Development (and You Probably Don’t Either)

On Friday, The Athletic's Vince Mercogliano broke the news that the New York Rangers had parted ways with Jed Ortmeyer, who had for the past five years served as their Director of Player Development.

Rangers fans who aren't intimately familiar with the makeup of the team's front office staff will likely remember Ortmeyer from the three seasons he spent wearing a Blueshirt from 2003-2007. You may remember him from that stint, but that's not to say it was particularly memorable. Over those three seasons, Ortmeyer posted nine goals and 24 points, along with 76 penalty minutes, in 177 games in New York. Really nothing to write home about.

Ortmeyer's ouster from his player development role comes in the wake of two disastrous seasons for the Rangers and for their farm team, the Hartford Wolf Pack, who similarly dismissed their entire coaching staff on Sunday. But more importantly and more centrally, it comes in the wake of several notable failures in scouting, drafting, and developing NHL-caliber talent. In that sense, the player development buck stoped with Ortmeyer, and it was clearly time for him to go. Something had to change.

In our Banter group text, Chip cautioned that before we get too excited about Ortmeyer being shown the door we should wait to see who was named to replace him. People who usually proffer the notion that "it can't get worse" typically suffer from a failure of imagination. It can almost always get worse. This is similar to Chip's cautions about people who desire to see Chris Drury similarly defenestrated. Yeah, you might get what you want there, and you might really enjoy it. But, who comes next? If you think it can't get worse, it absolutely could. Just ask Edmonton Oilers fans.

On Saturday, Vince's colleague at The Athletic Peter Baugh (not to be confused with former South Bend, Ind. mayor and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg) shared that the Rangers had elected to promote another former Rangers player, Tanner Glass, to the Director of Player Development role. Glass has served in a co-director capacity with Ortmeyer since 2019 after concluding his 11 year NHL career that included three, shall we say, controversial seasons in New York. (I will always choose to remember him for that ridiculous backhand goal over Carey Price's shoulder in Game 1 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Semifinal against Montreal.)

Many fans were, to say the least, not pleased with the choice.

While I share their dissatisfaction with the decision to promote Glass into sole possession of the role, it's for a different reason than most of these fans.

It’s because I have no idea what makes for a good director of player development. And I'd wager that none of you do, either.