In the Ottawa Sun, Bruce Garrioch writes that Dallas GM Joe Nieuwendyk could be on the hot seat since he wasn’t hired by new owner Tom Gagliardi.
Garrioch writes that Brian Burke’s name keeps coming up in regards to a possible GM opening in Dallas.
He notes that “for some reason” Burke is also being linked to the Rangers in the event that GM Glen Sather steps down. Sather would likely stay on as President of the Rangers.
Burke was fired as GM of the Maple Leafs and is currently working for Anaheim as a scout.
It’s been suggested before that Sather could give Burke a job.
It is expected that the Rangers will promote assistant GM Jeff Gorton when Sather steps down.
Rangers assistant GM Jeff Gorton is currently in charge of the Rangers day to day operations as Glen Sather takes a few days to recover from surgery for Prostate cancer.
The NY Times says that Gorton is believed to be the leading candidate to take over for Sather when he steps down/retire.
Sather told Klein in the past that Gorton was one of his top advisers.
Gorton has been assistant GM for the past two seasons and spent the previous four with the Rangers as the assistant director of player personnel.
In his current role, via the Rangers media guide, Gorton is “responsible for all aspects of hockey administration for the team, including matters relating to the hockey club’s salary structure and to the team’s interaction with the National Hockey League regarding player contracts, player movement and Collective Bargaining Agreement issues.”
“He oversees the day to day work of the hockey operations area, including the administration of all player and staff contracts. Gorton represents the club in salary arbitration matters, assists in negotiation of player contracts and coordinates team research projects. He also continues his involvement with the club’s professional and amateur scouting operations.”
Adam Rotter: The most likely scenario that people talk about is Sather stepping down as GM, but remaining as President and turning the GM duties over to Gorton. Gorton has been involved with this team as a scout, in player personnel and now as assistant GM. He is the natural successor to Sather and will likely, as long as he wants to be there, keep Jim Schoenfeld in his current role of assistant GM and assistant coach to help out.
When the time comes for Sather to retire from the organization and step down as President, the likely bet is that Mark Messier will take over that position
Gorton is involved with so many day to day matters as it is and he deserves to follow Sather and become a full-time GM at the NHL level. As President, Messier would hold a role that includes being active with matters on and off the ice
Last night, Darren Dreger was talking about potential General Manager candidates and picked Rangers assistant GM Jeff Gorton as one.
Dreger says that Gorton is a “sharp guy who many believe should be on such a list.”
Gorton was interim GM of the Bruins in 2006 and drafted Brad Marchand, Phil Kessel and Milan Lucic. He also acquired Tuuka Rask and signed Marc Savard and Zdeno Chara.
In July 2011, Gorton was promoted from Assistant Director, Player Personnel to Assistant General Manager.
Adam Rotter: Unless the long-term plan is to make Mark Messier the General Manager, the Rangers need to do everything that they can to keep Gorton with the organization. Gorton has the experience, negotiates contracts for the Rangers now, and has a big eye for talent. Glen Sather is 70 and won’t stay around forever. Gorton has his fingerprints all over this team and things should stay that way for a long time.
In the Edmonton Journal, Jim Matheson wonders if Rangers GM Glen Sather will give Brian Burke a job in hockey operations with the Rangers.
He writes “You don’t think Glen Sather, his fishing and hunting buddy and ownership partner in the old Chilliwack Bruins junior club, would give him work.”
Matheson suggests that Burke could be a scout.
Burke called on Sather to try and arrange a fight between Burke and Kevin Lowe, in a barn, after the two had a war of words about Dustin Penner.
The Rangers have former Wild GM Doug Risebrough as a “Hockey Consultant.”
Burke also knows John Tortorella from USA Hockey and he was the GM when Mark Messier was in Vancouver.
Burke and Sather had an interesting history of trades and injured players.
Adam Rotter: This would just be a way for Burke to stay involved and provide another voice in the room for Glen Sather and the Rangers. They wouldn’t bring him in with the intention of having him succeed Glen Sather, that appears to be Jeff Gorton’s job, but the two of them are friends and Burke could provide another set of eyes to the organization.
In June of 2011, Gordie Clark said that 2009 first round pick Chris Kreider was ready to become a professional hockey player, but that players don’t want to leave college until they are 100% sure it is the right decision.
Kreider had said that he didn’t think he was ready to go to the NHL and that he was going to stay at Boston College for his junior season. He had also said in the past that when he went to the NHL he wanted to make an impact.
On what he saw from Kreider during his play in the playoffs, Rangers assistant GM Jeff Gorton said a live chat “we drafted him in the first round. We felt highly about him. We both live there (Gorton and Clark) and saw him enough and my ten year old thinks he drafted Chris Kreider. He had done well at all levels. We talk about him so much that Torts would get mad at us. He has come on the scene and done some things that others haven’t been able to do. The organization is very proud of him and we look at a big big future for him.”
Gorton said during the playoffs, “I would be lying if we weren’t surprised to see a kid come out of college and do what he is doing. He has a pedigree of success and playing big in the right moments, but to have him come to NY and perform like this is a nice surprise. From a scouting standpoint it’s great to see one of your first round picks go in and make an impact.”
Adam Rotter: I think that the best thing about Kreider is his mental makeup and how he approaches the game. His speed was the thing that everyone saw on the ice, but the people who know him would always say that his speed was his second best asset behind the head that he has on his shoulders. He waited and developed at his pace and provided a model for other Ranger prospects to follow.
Last month, Ra
ngers President and GM Glen Sather said that the Rangers were not in the business of trading their young players
Rangers assistant GM Jeff Gorton had this to say, in the Daily News, about how the Rangers are building their organization,
“I think every case is different. When (Sather) talks about we don’t trade kids, I think he’s saying our philosophy is to build from within, develop our players, keep drafting well and keep having them come into the system. And hopefully we’re able to build up enough where if the time comes when we think we can improve our team with an addition, then we have the assets to do it.”
In a chat on the Rangers website, Gorton said, “I can say confidently that we feel we have a lot of prospects that we have done a pretty good job at drafting and developing players, but we never feel complacent that we have enough. We always want more. Our goal is to get more players. If A trade comes and we decide to do it, it’s all the more reason that we need to draft well. Our success has been drafting and developing and going that way. You are always going to need young player and that is what we continue to do.”
The Rangers reportedly will not trade Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal, Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi as part of any deal.
Adam Rotter: This is a homegrown organization now that will add pieces when it sees fit, but wants to give their kids a chance to have big roles. In a year or two, if the Rangers seem stuck, they will likely made a move that would include some kids and get an established player that they would hope would put them over the top. I still think they are a little while away from that. Until then, they are only looking to make deals at their price.
At ESPN Insider, Craig Custance lists five up and coming team executives who could find themselves as General Manager.
Fourth on the list is the Rangers assistant GM Jeff Gorton.
Gorton was promoted to assistant GM this summer after serving as Gordie Clark’s right hand man as assistant director of player personnel.
Gorton was credited with getting Brandon Dubinsky’s contract done before his arbitration hearing. He also had a hand in building the Boston Bruins into the Stanley Cup champions.
Glen Sather is 68 years old and he won’t hold onto the GM title forever. I would pay Gorton like a GM and promise him that he is next in line to run the Rangers. This team has his finger prints all over it and he is the logical successor to Sather.
Jeff Gorton hung in there and we found common ground. We fought right to the last minute before it was time to get on a plane for Toronto.”
NY Post
Gorton was promoted to assistant General Manager earlier this month.
This guy is money. The Rangers need him as part of the organization for a long time.
Update: 10:01PM:
“I reached out to Jeff Gorton, the Rangers’ assistant general manager, and we beat each other up for a few hours this morning,” Bartlett said. “We found a compromise, which was close enough for both sides and better than the alternative of going to a hearing.”
NY Times
Update: 5:07PM:
Brooks tweets that Gorton will replace Cam Hope as assistant GM. He does say that there is no line of succession for Glen Sather.
Original Post:
Larry Brooks tweets that the Rangers have promoted Jeff Gorton to assistant GM.
Gorton was previously the Rangers Assistant Director of Player Personnel.
Assistant GM Cam Hope is leaving the organization.
I love this and I hope it means that Gorton will stay with the organization for a long time.
Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
At Hockey Journal, Kirk Looks at how the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins were constructed.
Rangers assistant Director of Player Personnel Jeff Gorton was interim GM before Peter Chiarelli was hired.
As GM, Gorton drafted Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic and acquired goalie Tuuka Rask.
He also signed free agents Marc Savard and Zdeno Chara.
Rangers Director of Player Personnel Gordie Clark drafted Chara while with the Islanders.
It’s only a brief time that Gorton was in charge but he made some big moves and showed off his eye for talent with the two picks and the trade. He also took Phil Kessel, but according to Kirk, wanted to move up to draft Nicklas Backstrom.
It’s stories like this, and obviously their records, that make me believe that the Rangers have smart people running their drafting and developing programs. It’s why I preach patient and letting players develop, because if they do they will be special and turn the Rangers into contenders.
