The New York Rangers fired president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton on Wednesday, according to Larry Brooks of The New York Post. Chris Drury, who currently serves as the team's associate general manager, will be the new team president and general manager.
The firings come one day after the Rangers released a statement related to the Tom Wilson incident from Monday. In that statement, the Rangers wrote that they believe George Parros -- the NHL's Head of Safety -- is "unfit to continue in his current role."
However, TSN's Darren Dreger reported that Davidson and Gorton being let go isn't related to that statement. According to TSN, the decision was made because the Rangers "underachieved" during the 2021 season.
During Monday's game between the Capitals and Rangers, a brawl started when forward Pavel Buchnevich had a scoring chance in front of Capital goalie Vitek Vanecek. Buchnevich ended up falling to the ice following play being whistled and Wilson delivered a punch to the back of Buchnevich's head while he was down.
Rangers forward Ryan Strome was able to pull Wilson off of Buchnevich, and then Artemi Panarin got involved and jumped on Wilson's back in an effort to defend his teammates. Wilson pulled the Rangers star down to the ice and began punching Panarin when he tried to get up.
Panarin ended up receiving a two-minute penalty for roughing. Meanwhile, Wilson was able to return and scored a goal in the third period for Washington.
Following the game, Wilson was fined $5,000, which is the maximum fine allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The NHL specified that the fine is for Wilson punching a defenseless Buchnevich -- not for throwing Panarin to the ice. Hours after the NHL revealed that Wilson was only going to be fine and wasn't suspended, they released the statement calling out Parros.
The Rangers fell out of playoff contention on Monday following that 6-3 loss to the Capitals. They are currently 26-21-6 and face the Capitals again on Wednesday night.
