Thanks to the power of social media, it didn’t take long for Jacob Trouba’s zinger of a quote to make the rounds on various text chains involving people currently and previously associated with the Rangers.“It’s a rite of passage to get fired from MSG,” the discarded captain told reporters after being traded to the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 6.
Trouba delivered the one-liner with a smile, but it hit home with many who know the inner workings of the Madison Square Garden Co. There’s a long history of comings and goings under Blueshirts owner James Dolan, but there’s been an especially noticeable cultural shift in recent years, casting a growing shadow over the team. Several examples were laid out by people with direct or indirect ties to the Rangers, who spoke to lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, on the condition of anonymity.
It began in 2021 when Chris Drury maneuvered his way into the team president and general manager chairs at the expense of John Davidson and Jeff Gorton, the latter of whom held the GM title throughout the Rangers’ late-2010s rebuild. That created factions of bad blood and set the stage for the Big Brother environment that has festered today.
The exact number of team employees who have been dismissed in the aftermath is unknown, but it’s not hyperbole to describe the changes as wholesale.
The upheaval itself is well within Drury’s (and ownership’s) purview, regardless of how many feathers it ruffled in the process. But it’s the escalation of paranoia and secrecy that has created a feeling of walking on eggshells within the organization, which is coinciding with the team’s worst results in years and sagging morale.
“There was this wall put up,” according to one source. “No one could talk to anyone.”
For a while, the locker room was a safe space. Players had varying relationships with those who were let go and peripheral awareness of changes in policy, but the core of the team remained intact and close–knit. Most importantly, they were winning, with Eastern Conference Finals appearances in two of the previous three seasons. But a series of events have steadily chipped away at that armor, and with the losses piling up recently, it’s become harder to block out the static.
The barrier has crumbled, the previously positive vibes have turned negative, and now the on-ice product has taken a hit.
“Obviously, it’s human beings that you have here,” said veteran center Mika Zibanejad, who has seen his play drop off more dramatically than anyone. “We’re not robots, so obviously you’re going to have feelings and thoughts that go along with it. But at the same time, I don’t think that’s something that we get taught. We get taught to just keep doing what you’re doing. Try to be professional and go about your business, and that’s what we have to do.”
Rangers trade:Kaapo Kakko sent to Seattle for Will Borgen, draft picks
Players recognize a pattern
There have been a few very public examples that clearly affected team morale.
Waiving playoff warrior Barclay Goodrow to circumvent his no-trade list last June grabbed everyone’s attention, with the cutthroat and last-minute nature of that transaction stirring unease among certain players. That was immediately followed by a staredown with Trouba. The Rangers tried to force him to accept a trade over a summer, but he used his own no-trade power to block it while getting the message out to other teams that he preferred to stay in New York for family reasons.
That dragged an awkward situation into the season, with Trouba finally relenting to the pressure and agreeing to go to Anaheim earlier this month.
But while everyone knew something eventually had to give with the captain, whose play had clearly slipped and admitted the whole saga affected his ability to lead, the backdoor methods and general lack of eye-to-eye communication rubbed some the wrong way.
“I’m not overly thrilled with how it went down,” Trouba said. “In my opinion, things could have been handled better.”
The inclusion of Chris Kreider in a memo soliciting trade offers from all 31 opposing GMs fueled those sentiments. Multiple players resent the manner in which the longest-tenured Ranger was shoved into the rumor mill with no fair warning, as well as the resulting storm of questions and distractions it generated.
It’s the messy side of the business and may be a necessary evil to accomplish what Drury understands must happen, namely a shakeup of a roster that’s grown stale on his watch. But it’s undoubtedly caused friction between players and management.
“It’s my job, and 31 other GMs’ jobs, to try and do everything we can to help our team,” Drury said in a recent conference call. “There’s things at our disposal in the (Collective Bargaining Agreement). I’m not trying to mess with players. I have a ton of respect for Barclay and certainly, as I’ve said already, for Jacob. I’m just trying to do the best I can to move the team forward and make changes that I think are necessary.”
The Jim Ramsay effect
Some have accused the team of taking it all too personally, and they may have a valid point. But those with institutional knowledge stress that it goes beyond Drury’s heavy-handed tactics with players, which date back to a well-documented 2019 incident in which he berated former prospect Vitali Kravtsov in front of AHL Hartford teammates and staff and permanently fractured the relationship with the 2018 first-round pick.
Before seeing respected teammates unceremoniously dangled or cast aside, many Rangers were taking notice of other changes. There have been dismissals within the front office, scouting, public relations and social media departments, with the latter no longer permitted to travel with the team due to an incident last spring. But the one that hit home for the largest contingent of players was the firing of longtime head trainer Jim Ramsay at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season.
There doesn’t appear to be one clear-cut episode or final straw that led to his removal after 29 seasons in that role, with the Rangers declining to go into specifics on this matter or any other recent firing.
“We don’t comment on employee matters,” a team spokesperson said.
Multiple sources indicated the shocking dismissal was framed as an ownership decision and had a chilling effect on the team. Ramsay was beloved by most players, who privately let their displeasure be known.
Kreider was among the most aggrieved, with his frustration boiling over Feb. 15 – the night Ramsay returned to MSG for the first time as head trainer for the Montreal Canadiens.
He netted a hat trick in the 7-4 win and was one of several players to embrace their former trainer after the game, yet Kreider curiously declined to speak to the media after being named the No. 1 star of the game. According to one source, it was because Kreider was so upset by the Rangers’ treatment of Ramsay and refusal to acknowledge his return and feared he might not be able to hold that anger back if interviewed.
The other memo
Drury’s memo to all NHL GMs has garnered a ton of attention lately, but it was an internal memo − exclusively obtained by lohud.com/USA TODAY − that reverberated throughout the organization earlier this year.
In the aftermath of a PR person being fired for having dinner with a player following a media event prior to the new season, a letter signed by Drury, as well as Knicks president Leon Rose and MSG COO Jamaal Lesane, was distributed to all team employees issuing “a reminder regarding the expectations of behavior when interacting with the players or coaches of any of our Teams.”
Staffers were told that “absent written approval from an Executive Vice President (‘EVP’) or above,” they were prohibited from staying at the same hotel as any of the teams under the MSG umbrella, including the minor-league Hartford Wolf Pack and Westchester Knicks, traveling on team flights or buses, or attending team social gatherings or meals, according to the memo.
Furthermore, it mandated that employees keep as much distance as possible at the rink.
“Interactions between employees and players or coaches must be strictly limited except as necessary to satisfy the requirements of an employee’s role,” it read. “Failure to comply with the directives set forth in this memorandum may result in disciplinary action, including, without limitation, termination of employment.”
This was seen as a step too far by many who value the working, collegial relationships between players and staff, including trainers, equipment managers and PR. Some responded by boycotting the next team function after the memo was sent out, according to two sources.
The result was added tension in a workplace that had become increasingly strained.
No more ‘buffer’
The question many have raised is how much of that paranoia comes from Drury, and how much is above him?
The memo being signed not just by the Rangers’ president, but also Rose and Lesane, suggests it could be Dolan’s bidding, with multiple sources remarking about how the owner-management dynamic has shifted in recent years.
Under the previous regime, former team president Glen Sather remained very involved as a senior adviser and what one source described as “the buffer” between ownership and hockey operations. Dolan trusted Sather as much as any executive in recent memory, with another source describing Sather as “almost a father figure” to him. Dolan would air grievances to Sather, who in turn kept the owner at arm’s length from Davidson and Gorton.
Multiple sources described Sather as having a skill for assuaging Dolan’s concerns while tamping down any impulses he might share. The meddling during this period was kept to a minimum.
But since Drury took over, Sather has faded further into the background, culminating with his official retirement earlier this year. The result has been Drury answering directly to Dolan while fielding any complaints, suggestions or otherwise.
How much has that influence swayed certain decisions, whether they relate to roster construction, team employees or working environment? And could the message that put Kreider and Trouba on the trade block and escalated locker-room tension have been an attempt to appease an increasingly frustrated owner?
Where do they go from here?
Those answers are unclear, but by all accounts, Drury has been mostly aligned with Dolan and earned his way into the circle of trust.
Despite the Rangers’ recent nosedive, during which they’ve lost 11 of their last 14 games, no one believes that confidence has dwindled enough to jeopardize Drury’s job. Of course, everything is subject to change if the losing continues.
That includes speculation about whether head coach Peter Laviolette could face the ax, but sources believe Drury doesn’t have a strong appetite for going down that road at this time. The GM and coach were involved in an impromptu meeting in which concerns were aired following a 5-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 2, but their relationship is said to be in a far better place than Drury and Gerard Gallant in the leadup to the previous coach’s firing.
“Those are things that I can’t control,” Laviolette said when asked about his job status prior to Tuesday’s 2-0 loss in Nashville. “I’ve been in this a long time. There’s always those conversations wherever you go, especially if you’ve been in it for a long time. My real concern – the main concern – is getting a win tonight, getting back on track, getting back into the playoff race. Those are the things that we need to control and stay focused on.”
If Laviolette were to get bounced anytime soon, many believe it would be at the behest of ownership. But from Drury’s perspective, such a move could also turn up the heat on him.
Laviolette would be the third coach he’s let go in less than four years. How many cracks at finding the right voice will he get?
The focus, for now, is on tweaking a roster that clearly needs a refresh. Drury pulled off a nifty bit of bookkeeping by finding a team to take on Trouba’s full $8 million cap hit without needing to take back a bad contract, but it’s proving difficult to uncover true impact additions at this time of year.
Kaapo Kakko, who didn’t hold back his frustrations following Sunday’s surprising scratch from the lineup, was the latest disgruntled domino to fall in a trade that broke Wednesday evening. The former No. 2 overall pick was sent to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for defenseman Will Borgen and two 2025 draft picks, a modest return that doesn’t exactly boost New York’s chances of turning this season around.
Others are likely to go in the coming weeks and months − but ultimately, it’s going to take more than a few trades to rebuild a culture that’s springing leaks all over the place. Relationships have fractured and the workplace has become far less enjoyable for players and staffers alike. Too many are spending time looking over their shoulder, rather than pulling in the same direction, and it’s costing the Rangers in the standings.
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.
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