stash gorton
Promotion makes long wait worth it for Blueshirts exec
Finally, after all that time waiting, Jeff Gorton got rewarded.
Following eight seasons with the Rangers, and the past four as the assistant general manager doing most of the heavy lifting, Gorton got his job as the Blueshirts’ GM on Wednesday, taking over for hockey legend Glen sather.
“I would say that there is not a lot changing,” Gorton said on a conference call, “other than I will have the f inal decision on players.” Well, that’s quite a bit. sather has been making those calls since June 1 , 2000, and has led the Rangers through both highs and lows. Though teams have been asking to speak to Gorton for open GM jobs in the past, sather had not let it happen, knowing this changing of the guard was just a matter of time.
“The managers are all getting younger, not older,” sather said.
Gorton, 47, becomes just the 11th GM in Rangers’ history, dating to 1926. he comes from a player personnel background, starting in the public relations department of the Bruins in 1992-93, and eventually moving up into scouting then becoming Boston’s assistant GM for seven years — guiding drafts that brought in Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand. he served as Boston’s interim GM for three months in 2006, after Mike O’Connell got fired, and signed defenseman Zdeno Chara and traded for starting goalie Tuukka Rask.
Gorton was hired by the Rangers as a scout in 2007, then was promot- ed to assistant GM in 2011 . he was instrumental in the drafting of current Rangers Derek stepan, Chris Kreider, Jesper Fast and J.T. Miller, as well as the trades that brought back Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash and Deri c k Brassard.
The Blueshirts have made the playoffs nine out of the past 10 years, have been to three of the past four conference finals, and made it the 2014 stanley Cup f inals, losing to the Kings in f ive games. Gorton said that success has been the work of the whole organization, and that is the way it is going to continue.
“I don’t plan on being a one-man team,” Gorton sai d. “We have had success because of the people here — good scouts, good people, good coaches, good people all over. I don’t see big changes.
“I will use Glen as much as I can. We work with him every day, and he will be part of it. I don’t think he will go too far. he calls me five times a day as it is.”
Though Gorton might be a l i tt l e more inclined to keep draft picks and develop from within, the philosophy of the Rangers’ front off ice is not going morph into a small-market mentality. The goal remains winning the stanley Cup, and if the opportunity seems imminent — like it has the past couple seasons — Gorton said he is going to do all he can to achieve it.
“We want a skilled team, a highly competitive team,” he said. “If we’re in a situation where he have a chance to go for it, we’re going to continue to do that.
“We want to win here.”