Biz floats idea of ex-Blueshirt enforcer replacing Chris Drury as NY Rangers GM after 'rumblings' of meeting with James Dolan

By Abhishek Dilta

Modified Dec 18, 2024 06:43 GMT

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Former NHLer Paul Bissonnette has suggested former New York Rangers enforcer Sean Avery potentially replace Chris Drury as the team's manager following the reports of a meeting with team owner James Dolan.

On a recent "Spittin' Chiclets" podcast, Biz mentioned that he had heard rumors about Avery traveling to New York to discuss the current state of the Rangers with Dolan.

Bissonnette noted there is an unpredictable aspect of Dolan that could lead to a significant change in the team's management, including the dismissal of Drury in favor of Sean Avery as the next GM.

I'm also hearing rumblings that Sean Avery is going over to NYC to meet with James Dolan to talk about the state of the New York Rangers. There is a crazy element to James Dolan that my content dream might get rid of Drury and hire Sean Avery as the next general manager of the New York Rangers," Biz said.

"He (Avery) said, I'm going, I'm flying to New York specifically to meet with Dolan to talk about the state of the team," he added.

Sean Avery spent six seasons and 245 games with the Blueshirts. This development comes amid several reports indicating that the Blueshirts players are dissatisfied with GM Chris Drury, rather than head coach Peter Laviolette.

The Rangers have struggled recently, managing only three wins in their last 14 games, marking a challenging period for the club. The tough stretch is expected to persist as the Rangers face a series of playoff contenders in their upcoming matches.

The Blueshirts sit sixth in the Metro Division with a 15-15-1 record and 31 points after as many games. In the league standings, they're seven points off the top 16 spots.

NY Rangers' Kaapo Kakko opens up about being a healthy scratch

Blueshirts winger Kaapo Kakko was a healthy scratch in the lead-up to the team's recent loss to the St. Louis Blues. Kakko expressed his surprise at the decision, saying:

“I was surprised, yeah," Kakko told reporters. "I know you got to do something as a coach when you’re losing games, but I think it’s just easy to pick a young guy and boot him out. That’s how I feel, to be honest."

"Haven’t been on the ice too much when (opponents) score a goal," Kakko said of his own performance this season. I have not been the worst guy, but that was me out of the lineup."

In response to the 23-year-old's remarks, head coach Peter Laviolette defended his decision-making process, highlighting that veteran players have also been benched due to underperformance.

The Blueshirts are now 3-11 in their last 14 games, following Tuesday's 2-0 defeat to the league's bottom-placed Nashville Predators (9-17-6). The Blueshirts face the Dallas Stars (19-11-0) next on Friday.