Chris Drury reacts to Rangers' shakeup, doesn't think 'drastic' change is coming

Rangers president and GM Chris Drury spoke on Thursday along with Glen Sather in the aftermath of the stunning firings of John Davidson and Jeff Gorton.

Drury confirmed that he will be handling the dual role of president and GM, and that there is no plan to bring anyone else in at that level.

As far as what the shakeup means for the Rangers' ongoing rebuild?

"For me, I don't think it's anything too drastic," Drury told reporters via Zoom. "I really believe in what we have accomplished since the letter, with what we were able to do. Not only adding young assets and making some key trades, signing obviously a marquee free agent in the Breadman.

"So we do have a lot of good pieces. I think it's an exciting time for the organization. Just like every organization does when the season ends, we're gonna take a look at everything and do what we can to take the next step and make ourselves a playoff team." 

Speaking about the Rangers' recent struggles against the Islanders and Washington Capitals, Drury said he wasn't ready to dive into "too many specifics" when it comes to what it could mean for how the roster is shaped this offseason.

Drury said he was also not going to publicly discuss the potential future of head coach David Quinn.

Regarding the question of whether the Rangers need more toughness and grit, Sather -- who said the team's strongly-worded statement about the Tom Wilson situation had nothing to do with the firings of Davidson and Gorton -- focused on the fight the Rangers showed against the Caps on Wednesday night.

"I was particularly proud with the way they reacted," he said. "They all stuck together, they worked hard, they defended each other. That's part of the whole team-building process that young guys have to go through."

Sather added that he spoke to some of the young players after Wednesday's game to ask them if they had ever been involved in anything like what went on during the game against the Caps.

"Virtually every one of them shook their head," Sather said. "From the teams that I've been involved with, you need a certain element of being able to defend your players. It has to come from within the team. The team has to have a feeling for each other, a care for each other, to support each other. They certainly did that last night."