Around two dozen Rangers got on the ice today for practices, with the remaining NHL players – excluding Marc Staal – expected to join them sometime this week. Meanwhile a number of prospects are getting ready to travel to Traverse City to kick off the annual Prospect Tournament this weekend.

Oh yeah, and Summer officially ended yesterday…good times, good times. In our fourteenth edition of Ranger Countdown we return to a player who will be in the opening night line-up, and one who needs to up his game in 2010-11: Chris Drury.

Player Profile
When Chris Drury signed a contract with the Rangers on July 1st, 2007 he no doubt felt like he had fulfilled a dream. Playing for the team he grew up supporting, and earning a tidy $35M over the next five years would certainly have created a sense of elation.

But with the money came some expectations that perhaps Drury didn’t foresee. After breaking into the league with the Colorado Avalanche, he spent four seasons playing on one of the better offensive teams of the time, with players such as Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Milan Hejduk. Not surprising then that his statistics were solid in his tenure in the mile high state.

An off-season trade in 2002 saw him move up into the Canadian prairie to play for the Calgary Flames, before he signed on with the Buffalo Sabres, ultimately ending with his two best seasons to date under the direction of Lindy Ruff.

In fact, when he signed the deal with the Rangers, he had just set career highs of 37 goals and 69 points, to follow up a 33 goal, 67 point season the previous year. He also made a lasting impression on Ranger fans with a goal 7 seconds from regulation that setup an overtime win that would turn the series to the Sabres’ favor as they defeated the Rangers 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

So into New York he came, to join fellow big name UFA signing Scott Gomez, and an aging Jaromir Jagr in what would be his last year with the Rangers. In his first year with the Rangers, Drury was unable to repeat the success of the previous two seasons, but still managed his third highest goal total (25) and a solid 58 points, while directing the third highest number of shots in his career to date on goal (220).

Going into that first post-season, Drury was looked to as someone who could push the team to the next level. Having made a name for himself as a clutch performer in the playoffs, he did pick up one game winner, but ultimately could not help the team beat the more talented Penguins in the second round.

With Jagr departing, Drury was named captain of the Rangers, and his game for the most part largely tracked to the same pattern as his first season. He showed moments of clutch play, but ultimately proved to be more of a supporting player with solid defensive instincts, than the type of player who could be relied on to take the team in his hands and push them over the line. A late season injury further hampered his game, and he struggled through a post-season series loss to the Capitals without being able to shoot the puck.

While his first two years with the Rangers were pretty close to the level he’s played throughout his career, last season proved to be quite a dropoff. After struggling early in the season, Drury gradually lost power play time and premium playing time to finish the season relegated to third line winger.

The changes, combined with his offensive struggles lead him to his lowest goal (14), assist (18) and point (32) totals of his career, as well as a career worst -10 plus/minus and the second lowest shot total (148).

The Rangers missed the post-season, and Drury never got a chance to salvage anything from what would be a lost season.

Thanks to a no trade / no movement clause, Drury’s position on the team remains safe through to the end of next season. Even if the Rangers wanted to trade him, his salary would pretty much prevent it, and so it’s up to the Drury and John Tortorella to figure out how to get his game back on track, and at least back to the twenty goal level if possible.

The way things look right now, that seems unlikely, with Drury looking to lose out in the battle for a center spot thanks to increased competition there, and likely to play behind Marian Gaborik and Ryan Callahan on the right wing. His power play time will more than likely be relegated to the second unit with Callahan’s performance last year on the first unit likely to continue at least until the PP unit struggles.

Defensively we should continue to see Drury get plenty of PK time and be used at times as a defensive specialist, and he may be asked to expand this role depending on how well others in the team handle it.

Certainly at 34 we shouldn’t expect much of a renaissance from the captain this year, and 20 goals under these circumstances should be considered a successful season.

2009-10 Statistics
Team: New York Rangers (NHL)
Stats: 14 goals, 18 assists and 31 penalty minutes in 77 games

Prediction
Team: New York Rangers (NHL)
Stats: 16 goals, 20 assists and 40 penalty minutes in 80 games

Fun Fact
Drury is the only player to ever win both the Hobey Baker Award for best NCAA player and the NHL’s Calder Trophy for best rookie.