Drury’s Chance

With the news Ryan Callahan is out long term a unique opportunity at redemption(?) may have come about for the current captain Chris Drury. Veteran center, Drury is not held in high regard by the vast majority of Rangers fans because he doesn’t come close to earning his big contract and the fact that progressively throughout his Rangers tenure, his offensive game has disintegrated. However, it seems hard to imagine all wouldn’t be forgiven should Drury come back in Callahan’s absence and re-discover his game to the point he becomes an impact forward once again. The timing wouldn’t be better.

Drury was known for his clutch play throughout his career and has playoff pedigree. Should the Rangers get in, they’ll need it more than ever with Callahan not likely to be back for a long time. Should the Rangers go deep, it’s hard to think Drury wouldn’t have had an impact. Drury back covers the absence of Callahan on the penalty kill; he makes the team better defensively and would take a lot of key draws. The pressure/hole comes on the offensive side of the puck. This year, Callahan has stepped up a level to the point where he is a legitimate, consistent threat to score, something Drury no longer is. If Drury can even get back to his Rangers self of years 1 and 2 (and not this year) he’d be adding offense to the team – much needed now a man down.

If Drury could get back to his Sabres days or his Avalanche ways then the impact the Rangers would feel by Callahan’s loss would be minimised. Granted, it’s hard, unlikely, to expect Drury to find any kind of impact game given the time he has missed and the rust he’ll likely have but if he can, the Rangers would be so much better off. Should Drury do the unthinkable and find some offense, a lot of the boos he has faced as a Ranger would turn to cheers, especially with a deep playoff run. A chance awaits Drury, a chance for redemption (of sorts)