Chris Drury
(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Chris Drury, former New York Rangers captain and current assistant GM, has been named general manager of the Team USA World Championship team.

Chris Drury, 42, will now be overlooking the hockey operations for the USA World Championship team. He takes on the role of general manager, replacing Bill Zito.

He has been in the Rangers front office since the 2016 season. Drury is the assistant general manager of the New York Rangers, alongside Jim Schoenfeld. Starting this season, Drury has been the GM of the Rangers AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.

In his playing career, he spent 12 seasons in the NHL. He shared a bulk of the time in one place at the beginning and end of his career with four seasons in Colorado and four seasons in New York, respectively.

Drury replaces Bill Zito as the GM of the Team USA World Champion team. Zito helped lead Team USA to a bronze medal victory last season over Canada. It was the first medal won since 2015 and just the third medal won in the 2010s.

Coming into 2019, Drury could have a capable team that can repeat in the medal games again.

There could be some current and former Rangers joining the USA roster. K’Andre Miller and Tony DeAngelo are the two most prominent for the Rangers. Chris Kreider could possibly sneak in, but it all comes down to how much damage he sustained this season.

The International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Championships will begin on May 10 and last until May 26. The tournament will be held in Bratislava & Kosice, Slovakia.