With the tremendous work the New York Rangers front office has done this summer
the calls for Sather to go now have quelled, but that does not mean the
need to figure out the potential successor is has diminished. For the past few years that has been an implied assumption
amongst followers of the Rangers that Mark Messier was the man being
groomed to replace GM Glen Sather. To
his credit Messier has been putting in the work to learn the management side of
the game whether it be as GM for Team Canada at the 2010 IIHF World Hockey
Championship or in his current role as special adviser to Glen Sather the past
few years. Mark Messier could have
convinced some team, New York or otherwise, to hire him as their general
manager just on his name and reputation, but he has decided not to go that
route and earn the job, which speaks to his desire to not only be a GM, but be
a very good one. However, that should
not happen in New York.
The resistance to Messier being the next GM of the Rangers
is not about the fact that he has never been one at this level before or that
he has learned at the side of Glen Sather and could have picked up bad traits
from him. The resistance is not about
Messier at all. The simple fact is, at
least right now, the Rangers have a better candidate in the organization with
Assistant GM Jeff Gorton.
Jess Rubenstein of The
Prospect Park laid out the case for Gorton as the successor to Sather
because he has the combination of front office experience and age to bring the
Rangers forward for a long time to come.
Gorton already possesses 19 years of front office experience at all
levels including seven years as an AGM with Boston before having a very successful
reign as Interim GM in 2006.
Gorton has been a member of the Rangers organization for the
past four seasons, spending three as assistant director of player personnel working
hand-in-hand with Gordie Clark to help the Rangers rebuild the prospect ranks
to allow the Rangers to be where they are today.
Three weeks ago Gorton was shifted around in the front
office moving to Assistant GM where he would be involved with all player
transactions and negotiations. If you
needed evidence he was up for that job, then look no further than him being the
point man on last week’s contract for Brandon Dubinsky which seemed destined
for an arbitration hearing before an all-night negotiating session between
Gorton and Dubinsky’s representatives changed the calculations. Gorton followed the Dubinsky deal by inking
the Rangers other key restricted free agent, Ryan Callahan, to a three-year
deal of his own for less than many thought it would cost to keep him. This is the kind of tangible experience that
you want your GM to have and besides the experience itself it creates a sense
of trust within the players in the organization seeing how Gorton has handled
those that have had contract negotiations before them.
Mark Messier has the legacy and history with the New York
Rangers and the fans, so he would certainly be the more popular public choice,
but Gorton’s first-hand experience and track record when given the
responsibility makes him the better choice to be next after Glen Sather is done
as Rangers’ GM.
