The sooner we accept the fact that James Dolan is probably going to add Mark Messier to the New York Rangers front office, the better off we’ll be.
After letting go of both general manager Jeff Gorton and team president John Davidson under extremely suspicious circumstances, the New York Rangers are who the New York Knicks used to be. That’s right, they hold the distinction of being the team that Madison Square Garden Entertainment CEO James Dolan actually cares about. Whether or not that’s a good thing remains to be seen.
The era of the Rangers rebuild is over. Now comes an era of chaos and uncertainty. And with that era will come some interesting hires. One of those hires could be Mark Messier, at least if he gets what he wants.
Recently, Messier was a guest on The Michael Kay Show. Here’s what he had to say when asked about the Rangers.
Does Mark Messier want to join the Rangers front office?
Sure sounds like Mark Messier is itching to get back on Broadway. He served as a senior advisor for the Rangers from 2009 to 2013 and has also served in several coaching roles, though none of them have been at the NHL level.
Let’s face it, Dolan’s going to hire Messier. This is straight out of Dolan’s playbook. Back in 2003, Dolan hired Isiah Thomas to be the Team President of Basketball Operations and General Manager despite Thomas lacking any front office experience. Thomas’ tenure with the Knicks was defined by negative attention, awful trades, and wasting draft picks.
Now, Chris Drury is currently the Rangers general manager. Considering how many interviews he has partaken in over the past few seasons, it’s safe to say he’s a very strong candidate to be the full-time general manager. But Dolan has traditionally had a separate President of Hockey Operations, so he’s probably going to want to hire someone to fulfill that role.
There is, however, one huge difference between Messier and Thomas. Messier has ties to the Rangers. He captained the last team to have a Stanley Cup parade down Broadway. Messier is arguably the greatest player in Rangers history and if he’s not the greatest, he’s darn close to the top. Thomas had zero connections to the Knicks before joining them.
If Dolan’s getting involved with the Rangers, fans better be on their toes. Messier’s name will inevitably be tossed around as a front office candidate. And he’s the quintessential James Dolan head-scratching hire.