Mark Messier's future with Rangers remains uncertain

Mark Messier's future with the Rangers remains uncertain. (J. Countess/Getty Images)

Mark Messier's future with the New York Rangers appears to be in doubt.

According to a report Thursday morning from Larry Brooks of the New York Post, General Manager Glen Sather said that Messier, who has served as special assistant to Sather for the last four years, was "very disappointed" that he didn't get the head coaching job over Alain Vigneault, who was hired over the weekend to replace the recently fired John Tortorella.

Messier will reportedly take a few days to think over the decision and get back in touch with Sather, but according to Sather, the two sides still haven't spoken:

"I don’t really know what Mark is going to do. He was very disappointed when I called to tell him that we were going to hire Alain...he said he wanted to take a few days and would call me, but we haven’t spoken since.”

Vigneault, 52, a former coach with the Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadians, reached an agreement over the weekend to become the next head coach of the Rangers. The deal, which is expected to be made official at a press conference on Friday at Radio City Music Hall, is reportedly for five years and $10 million.

Messier, 52, played for the Rangers from 1991-97. The Hall of Fame center scored the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Canucks in 1994, giving New York its first Stanley Cup in 54 years. In 2010, he led Team Canada in two hockey tournaments but has no formal coaching experience in the NHL.

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