The 2025–26 NHL season is nearing its end for the New York Rangers, but Chris Drury and company have no escaping the harsh criticism. This time, it wasn’t voiced inside Madison Square Garden nor around the streets of Manhattan. Instead, a recent poll of player agents put the Blueshirts in the spotlight.
Drury and the rest of the front office have enough on their plates. New York fans didn’t love learning that the Rangers saved $80,000 by healthy scratching rookie Drew Fortescue, and the fact that the Rangers will finish with a miserable record in the 2025–26 NHL season means the timing couldn’t be any worse for the front office to be put on notice by agents across the league.
According to a recent poll by The Athletic, 23 player agents voted on which was the worst-run franchise in the NHL, and Drury’s Rangers earned four votes—second most—only trailing the Vancouver Canucks’ seven. It seems the Blueshirts and ‘Nucks have been in a competition all year long to determine which organization drives its fans crazier. Perhaps it’s fitting they agreed to the J.T. Miller trade not so long ago—a move that to this day has shown no clear winner.
Drury and Rangers may overlook human side
“Deep down, they forget everybody’s a human being. They’re too forceful,” an anonymous agent commented on Drury and the Rangers’ front office, via The Athletic. When it’s all said and done, Drury’s “it’s all business” approach is seemingly making him no friends—not in the Big Apple, and not in the bigger picture, either.
Chris Drury of the NY Rangers
The league-wide memorandum to the league stating New York was open for business, the handling of Artemi Panarin on an expiring contract, and the decision to give up on Kaapo Kakko, Brennan Othmann, and other youngsters—it’s all added up. Perhaps a visit to the Bronx to watch a baseball game reminds Drury that it’s one, two, three strikes and you’re out. The Rangers’ president and general manager may have struck out a while ago.
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NY Rangers and Canucks are in a tough spot
Being put on the Canucks’ level should be one of the worst comparisons available for the Rangers, and one Drury must strive to overturn. Vancouver has been spiraling out of control for a while now. It has lost its face of the franchise, Quinn Hughes, and has red flags hanging over its organization ahead of free agency.
Needless to say, if top players’ agents think so poorly of the Canucks and Rangers, then it means they will have a very hard time convincing players to sign with them in the upcoming free agency period in the NHL.
NY Rangers will have tough time signing free agents
There’s a difference between the two organizations, though. Vancouver fully accepts its reality and is heading toward a complete rebuild. Meanwhile, Drury firmly believes New York is only a retool away from becoming a contender again. It’ll be tough to sell that pitch if agents don’t rate Drury and his antics.
If he can’t sway them, the Rangers are ultimately left to the luck factor of the Draft Lottery to come away with a top selection and find their franchise savior through the draft process. New York can’t place all of its eggs in the free agency basket, because there’s a good chance it will come away empty-handed.
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