COLUMBUS, Ohio — John Davidson spent much of the last year trying to convince the Blue Jackets’ top players, Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin, to commit long term to Columbus, imploring them to believe that the grass isn’t always greener in the big city or by the ocean.



But on Friday, Davidson became the first shoe to drop in what could be a mass exodus this summer for the organization.



Davidson, the president of hockey operations since 2012, is leaving the Blue Jackets with four years remaining on his contract to assume a similar role with the New York Rangers, with whom he spent six years as a player and nearly 20 years as a broadcaster.



The Rangers are expected to introduce Davidson at a news conference on Wednesday.



”The winning culture that now is entrenched in all of us will continue under the direction of Jarmo Kekalainen, who will now serve as an alternate governor in addition to general manager, and the leaders...