Rangers bring back tough guy Tanner Glass.

The New York Rangers have brought back a familiar and relatively unpopular face, however the way in which they are doing it will likely ease the fears of potentially concerned fans. 

According to a report from New York Rangers insider Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the Rangers are set to bring back National Hockey League veteran Tanner Glass. Glass of course is a long time Rangers enforcer who many would argue overstayed his welcome with the New York Rangers during that phase of his NHL career. Glass was leaned on perhaps more than he should have been by head coach Alain Vigneault at the time that he was a Ranger and that resulted in a fair dose of criticism from the Rangers fan base, understandably so. 

The good news here for Rangers fans is that Glass will not be returning as a player however, but rather as a fixture of player personnel in the Rangers organization. Brooks believes that this is one of the first moves in a new direction for the Rangers organization, one that was triggered by two big departures from the organization that occurred recently.

From Brooks:

This is the beginning of executing the vision set forth from new team president John Davidson, who took over this summer in the wake of Glen Sather and Jim Schoenfeld stepping down. As Davidson did while running both the Blues, who just won the Stanley Cup following his blueprint, and the Blue Jackets, he is focused on making sure the Rangers now get the most out of their prospects, both in North America and overseas.

Glass of course has spent the past season of his career playing for Bordeaux in France and it is safe to say that his game did not evolve a great deal while he was over there. Sure Glass was mopre productive on the offensive side with 6 goals and 11 assists for a total of 17 points over his 43 games played, but his 101 penalty minutes over that stretch also indicate that he remains very much a gritty style of player.

It will be interesting to see how Glass grows in his role within the organization, as several former Rangers have quickly begun to distinguish themselves as elite NHL executives.