The fallout from the Tom Wilson incident continues for the New York Rangers.
The Rangers have fired team president John Davidson and general manager, Jeff Gorton, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.
It was not immediately clear if the dismissals were related to the statement the team released Tuesday, which strongly criticized the NHL for not suspending Capitals forward Tom Wilson for his role in a brawl that injured Rangers star Artemi Panarin during Monday’s game.
Freidman also reports that that long-time assistant general manager Chris Drury will replace both Davidson and Gorton as president and general manager.
Freidman also tweeted that both Gorton and Davidson were unaware of that statement until it was released.
“The New York Rangers are extremely disappointed that Capitals forward Tom Wilson was not suspended for his horrifying act of violence last night at Madison Square Garden. Wilson is a repeat offender with a long history of these type of acts and we find it shocking that the NHL and their Department of Player Safety failed to take the appropriate action and suspend him indefinitely,” said the statement, which was not signed.
“Wilson’s dangerous and reckless actions caused an injury to Artemi Panarin that will prevent him from playing again this season. We view this as a dereliction of duty by NHL Head of Player Safety, George Parros, and believe he is unfit to continue in his current role.”
Gorton was promoted to the general manager role in July of 2015 after working for three years with the organization as an assistant general manager. His tenure with the Rangers was highlighted by the addition of Panarin in free agency and draft lottery wins to add forwards Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere with top-two draft picks in 2019 and 2020.
Davidson was named president of the Rangers in May of 2019 after holding the same title with the Columbus Blue Jackets for seven years.