John Davidson noted last week that he isn’t coming to the Rangers with a “hand grenade” and looking to blow things up.
Davidson said that Jim Dolan gave him permission to “do what I want to do” but noted that he thinks the culture is “going in the right direction” under Jeff Gorton and David Quinn.
He said that he hopes his relationship with Jeff Gorton is like being “married at the hip” and that he wants everybody working together on the same page. (The Athletic)
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JD said that he wants each person to do their job and that he will try to help in all areas of the organization.
He added, “I think I can help in a lot of different ways because of what I have gone through, even as a player and broadcaster and knowing and having connections over the world in our game. I can call people and give that info to our GM, etc. I don’t want to sit in a rocking chair, I want to be hands on and work.”
With Jeff Gorton, JD told The Athletic “I’m not going to sit here and say he’s going to have every call on every thing, but what happens is the general manager, that’s his job. If he wants my advice or if I can steer him, I’ll be happy to help. Happy to help. But he’s got his seat on the bus and he’s got to do his job.”
JD said that he has a relationship with Gorton from seeing him at tournaments and hockey events and said “he was always there and I also know that he made some pretty prominent moves with Boston before he got to the Rangers, I respect what he has done.”
In his time with Columbus:
- Davidson was hired in October of 2012 and inherited Scott Howson as GM. Howson was then fired by JD in February 2013 and replaced by Jarmo Kekalainen. Kekalainen has remained GM of Columbus since.
- Davidson inherited Todd Richards as head coach and Richards remained as head coach until October 2015 when he was fired and replaced by John Tortorella. Tortorella has remained coach since.
On Sirius XM, JD said on Thursday, “it’s my job to deal with what is going to happen here. The intentions are to build a franchise with a strong foundation and it takes proper time. I can’t sit here and say it’s going to take 1-2-3 years. Free agent world, as we all know, is not too far down the road but we have to make sure that signings make sense. No sense in signing a guy to a 7-year contract if it doesn’t fit to what you need down the road. If it fits then you do it the right way. There will be ups and downs but it’s going to be fun. Young people, if they are quality players, will get better right before our eyes and when the day comes you are going to wake up and say that you have a good hockey team. When you build a house it takes time to build a house, it’s just what it is but when it’s done it’s sure nice to move into it.”