After being bought out by the Rangers in June it was expected that Chris Drury would catch on somewhere else in the league for his leadership and ability to fill a fourth line role on a team. That will not be the case as accroding to Tom Gulitti, Drury formally announced his retirement from the NHL today. Many will remember Drury for the huge five-year, $35.25 million contract he signed with the Rangers on July 1, 2007 and never could live up to. The Rangers bought out Drury earlier this summer because his massive cap hit was too big a burden for a team looking to move forward and take the next step. Drury had been slowed by the combination of age and injuries, especially a knee that kept him out for much of the second half of the season.
In 892 career games, Drury finished with 255 goals and 360 assists while being a big game performer earlier in his career for Colorado and Buffalo. His teammates called him a quiet leader that had the respect of everyone in the room. His quiet nature was often seen as a lack of fire in New York, but that his teammates have consistently denied that being the case within the locker room.
After a great start to his career it is sad to see a classy player and person like Chris Drury have it end like this. Forgotten for many will be the very good career he had overall because of the focus on his contract and failure to perform to it in New York, but at least those who played with him seem to appreciate what he brought every day.
