On TSN, Pierre LeBrun said of the Rangers “there is absolutely no word out of the Rangers themselves, very tight lipped about what might transpire over the next week or so, but in talking to other people around the league, the low hanging fruit, the expectation from a lot of people that I’ve talked to is that Peter Laviolette could get fired. He’s got another year on his deal so it’s certainly not a sure thing, but when you look at the body language and performance of the team over the last month, when I talk to other people around the league, that is probably the easiest conclusion. We’ll see whether or not that happens. If it does happen, I think it’s important to note, it was not all about coaching, let’s be real, there are other issues here in New York.”
He added, “I go back to the way Barclay Goodrow was waived and his exit from New York last summer. I know that didn’t sit well with some Rangers players and then how Jacob Trouba, the Captain, got dealt earlier this season. I think there are some players in that Rangers dressing room have been upset with the way things have been handled and it’s led to sort of this malaise that has hung around that team all year long. All of which leads to the next question and what about GM Chris Drury. My sense there is that he should be okay. I think there is a lot of loyalty there from Jim Dolan. Chris Drury was pretty busy ahead of the trade deadline, really setting up his offseason with a lot of the moves that he made. Chris Drury plans to be aggressive in trying to retool the Rangers this summer. Not a lot of hard answers here, but a lot of people around the league waiting to see what shoe will drop in what has been one of the bigger disappointments in a long time in the NHL, Presidents’ Trophy winners likely missing the playoffs one year later.”