Rangers Analysis: A Blueshirt Banter Summary of Chris Drury
There seems to be a common misconception around here when it comes to Chris Drury. We here at the Banter do not want Chris Drury to fail; in fact we probably want him to succeed more than anyone else. But as writers for the New York Rangers it is our obligation to give honest thoughts and opinions on the New York Rangers and the analysis on Drury is bad.
No, I do not expect Drury to score 50 goals and put up 100 points (even though he is being paid like a player who can). I can look past his 7.1 million dollar contract because anyone would have put their name on the dotted line if it was put in front of them. But I do come to expect some things from Drury and, yes, it is more than doing nothing but "the little things right." I do expect a 20 goal 50 point season, a plus rating and at least 5 game winning goals. My expectations are low (as they should be).
Currently however Drury is on pace to score 6 goals and add 21 assists on the year. He is 51% on face-offs which is good to tie him for second on the team but put him at 48th in the NHL. On that face-off list every single team has at least one player above Drury in face-off percentage, some even have two. He is on pace to have 141 shots, the fewest he has amassed in any other previous season was 152.
Now before you all go and tell me that his lack of numbers is because of a lack of power play time, he is currently seeing nearly 2 minutes of power play time a game (which puts him for 5th on the team in forwards). But after watching him on the power play I can’t say that he deserves more time, he is simply being outplayed by other plays when the Rangers have a man up.
More after the jump.
Okay so it’s Chris Drury fact time.
- For starters he has a full no-movement clause which means that the Rangers can’t even send him down to the AHL without his permission.
- This no-movement clause includes a full no trade clause.
- He can’t even be sent down on a conditioning stint without giving his permission to the Rangers.
- Basically he can’t be moved at all, period. No, seriously, there is no loop hole. I am not kidding, stop thinking. STOP! Why are you still reading this? There is more below!
Anyway onto the present. Can Drury turn things around? Of course he can. The real question is whether he will be able to. You can sit there all you want and defend him, and say that he is doing the little things right but that doesn’t matter. He is here to score goals, to put up some offensive numbers (and although he has had a few assists) he has still largely been kept off the score-sheet.
He doesn’t deserve to be scoring goals because he simply isn’t generating scoring chances. When was the last time you truly remember him "just missing the net" or even hitting the post? I don't see a lot of that out of him whereas if you look at Ryan Callahan or Christopher Higgins you can probably note dozens of occasions.
For some reason there is not stat on individual players scoring chances on the internet but I can assure you that his scoring chances are down from last year. He doesn't seem as comfortable and on a personal note I think the lack of goals is getting to him.
His last goal was October 19th against the San Jose Sharks, which was over a month and a half ago; although he did miss a few games due to injury. In case you can't remember the goal here it is:
Okay so to finish the point. I hope that Chris Drury somehow pulls out of this massive tailspin, because even if he doesn't he isn't going anywhere for the next few years. Yes he does the little things right, and yes he plays great on the penalty kill, but he is here to score goals (or at least more than he is) and so far we have yet to see it. He is an important part to this team and when he gets going only good things will come. The Rangers simply can't afford to have people not named Marian Gaborik score goals, and right now Drury isn't helping. Here is to hoping he does.
Thoughts?