Chris Drury: Can the New York Rangers Captain Regain His Scoring Touch?

As many of you already know, Chris Drury is set to make his season debut Friday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. During practices Rangers coach John Tortorella has placed the Rangers captain on the first line between scoring superstars Marian Gaborik, and Alexander Frolov. The reasoning behind Drury’s placement is due to the fact that Erik Christensen, normally the first line center, has a pulled groin muscle, and might have to sit out for the Rangers home opener.

The idea of placing Drury on the first line popped up many times throughout the offseason, and it may become reality come Friday night’s game. When Drury was signed to his large six-year deal, Glen Sather (the Rangers general manager) offered the contract with the intentions that Drury would continue his scoring outbreak of 30 goals a season.

In 2006-07, the season prior to his start as a New York Ranger, Drury tallied an impressive 37 goals for the Buffalo Sabres. He also added 32 assist for a total of 69 points. That’s what Sather, and Rangers fans, expected to see from Drury throughout his career as a Ranger.

Well, the contract seems to have blown-up in the organization’s face, as Drury enters his fourth season with the Rangers and he has yet to hit the 30 goal mark. His best season was 2007-08 in which he scored 25 goals, and 58 points. The big question: Where did Drury’s offense go?

In his career with the Rangers, Drury has had a 25 goal season, a 22 goal season and an upsetting 14 goal season which occurred last year. If you take a look at his stats with the Buffalo Sabres, his numbers with the Rangers do not compare at all. His statistics with the Rangers do not seem like normal Chris Drury numbers.

It’s a mystery to me, and probably every Rangers fan out there, as to how Drury’s numbers have dropped so much. It may be due to his “defense first” mentality, but even two-way players can do better than 14 goals a season (especially when they were once an almost 40 goal scorer).

The second question I ask is: How can Drury get back to his scoring ways?

Well, maybe placing him on the top-line is a good start. In Buffalo he played with superstars such as Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek, Maxim Afinogenov, and Jason Pominville. On the Rangers roster, the two offensive superstars that first come to mind are Marian Gaborik, and Alexander Frolov. It just so happens that both of those superstars are wingers and Chris Drury is a center. Put the three together and you have a pretty dominate line, that is, if Drury can regain his scoring touch.

If Drury does get a chance to play first line minutes for the Rangers Friday night, again that is up to Erik Christensen and his injury, will he impress? Would Drury find that scoring touch that he lost sometime during his flight from the Buffalo Sabres to the New York Rangers? Can Drury become a top-line goal scorer again?

Some of you may be thinking I am over exaggerating this, but these are serious questions that can be answered. Given the opportunity, can Drury reignite his scoring touch? Possibly, but I will leave you to ponder that question and answer in the comment section if you so please to.

Thanks for the read, hope you enjoyed.