Chris Drury Given Permission to Interview for Vacant Florida Panthers GM Spot

Do you think there?s a handshake agreement in place between Dru and ownership/JD that he?s the next guy when Gorton is gone? Why else would he turn down the CHANCE for a GM job? What did he have to lose by interviewing unless this organization just really doesn?t want him to leave?

Could also be he didn't like what the ownership group had to say.

Florida is in a really crappy position roster wise. It would be an uphill battle, a thankless and almost unwinnable job.

 

Could also be he didn't like what the ownership group had to say.

Agree with this.

I think in part he’s also getting his name out there and taking interviews for NHL jobs in the hope of something else opening up down the road that he finds more appealing and has more interest in.

Still, why not sit for an interview for the experience? Just seems odd to me.

He interviewed. Then he withdrew.

Slap Shots has learned the Rangers? assistant GM has withdrawn from consideration for the vacant spot in Florida following an initial interview with the Panthers? upper management conducted the week of Aug. 16. The Connecticut Yankees fan informed the team of his decision on Friday.

 

The 44-year-old Drury will enter his sixth year in the Rangers? front office and fifth as assistant GM. He has become an integral part of the hierarchy that features John Davidson as president and Jeff Gorton as GM. He is also entering his fourth as GM of the AHL Wolf Pack. It was his call last summer to hire Kris Knoblauch as Hartford coach, a move that brought immediate results.

 

 

Sources report that another rising star in the industry, Eddie Olczyk, has not only been in for an interview but is expected to be among the finalists for the GM position in Florida that became vacant when the team did not extend the expiring contract of Dale Tallon after the ne?er do well Puddy Tats were bounced out of the qualifying round by the Islanders.

He is highly regarded throughout the industry for his acumen, much in the same way John Davidson was before he left the MSG broadcast booth to become president of the Blues in 2006. Indeed, Slap Shots has learned Olczyk had multiple interviews with the Devils for an executive front office position before the team elevated interim GM Tom Fitzgerald into the position on a full-time basis.

Slap Shots has been told that Peter Chiarelli, who has been promoted by the NHL for essentially every executive opening that arises, is expected to be among the finalists. Scott Mellanby is another remaining in the mix for a second interview. Kevin Weekes, who began his NHL career in Florida in 1997-98, is also considered a legitimate candidate for the job following the initial round of interviews.

https://nypost.com/2020/08/29/slap-shots-rangers-chris-drury-bows-out-of-panthers-gm-search/

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I don't understand?

 

He interviewed. Then he withdrew.

Ah, my mistake then. I didn’t realize he did the initial interview. My bad.

3. The Panthers? introductory interviews for their GM vacancy were done mainly by President & CEO Matt Caldwell, along with Travis Viola, one of owner Vinnie Viola?s sons. (At one time, Travis was the team?s Vice President of Hockey Operations & Special Projects.)

 

As The New York Post?s Larry Brooks reported, Rangers assistant GM Chris Drury withdrew from consideration. He was a serious contender, if not the front-runner, and there are sources who believe he was going to be offered the job, if he hadn?t been offered it already.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/31-thoughts-players-make-unified-anti-racism-statement-bubble/

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Haha, panthers

They can't even hire a GM right.

Gotta wonder what happened that Drury went from front-runner to....just runner though. Pro GM jobs are among the rarest in major sports - there's literally only about 125 of them in the US and Canada. To withdraw from consideration when you're the leading candidate? Wonder what's up.