While many Rangers fans have embraced the tank the players on the team have had other ideas since the trade deadline.
Who says the Rangers are supposed to be bad now that they traded away half their team? Well if they are supposed to be bad, don’t tell the players. The Rangers have been solid, possibly even good at times since their overhaul at the trade deadline. The team is 5-4-2 since the trade deadline.
The top line of Pavel Buchnevich, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad have been lights out. Alex Georgiev has been more than adequate in relief of Henrik Lundqvist. Neal Pionk looks like the real deal on the blue line. The only negative at this point in the season is that New York is winning. You don’t often hear that, but in this case, it is true.
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However, while some may look at winning as the worst possible thing New York can be doing at this moment, it isn’t. In fact, there are a lot of positives that can be taken away from this most recent stretch of games. New York needs a top pick in this years draft, but winning now isn’t a negative by any means.
Young Talent
The main reason the Rangers success on the ice isn’t a full-blown negative is because it is a direct byproduct of the young talent the team has in its program. The success that the Rangers are seeing now is a direct look into the future of New York. The draft is a big part of the teams rebuild, but so is the end of this season. Most everyone on the ice for New York at this juncture will factor into the teams rebuild in some way. Kevin Hayes, Kreider, Zibanejad, Pionk, are all names who will likely be in Rangers blue for a while.
If the team can start the rebuild before this season even ends, that is a big step in determining just how long the team will be in an actual rebuilding phase. By the looks of it, the talent in the organization already seems to indicate that things might not take as long as some rebuilds do. What New York has proven during this recent stretch of games is that the team is closer to being a playoff contender than to the basement of the NHL.
This is also adding in the fact that Filip Chytil and Lias Andersson haven’t stepped on to the ice in some time with Rangers sweaters on. They certainly will soon this year. When they do, another portion of the rebuild begins. A few youngsters have had evaluations in real games for a good chunk of time now. Andersson and Chytil need to be centerpieces of a rebuild, their time is coming. If the success keeps coming when they are on the ice as well, it is just more good news.
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Draft Depth
If the NHL draft lottery goes to plan (it usually doesn’t) the New York Rangers would pick 10th in this year’s draft. That is a solid spot, top 10 never hurts. But when a team is rebuilding you usually want a top-five draft pick. If the goal is to build through the draft, you want a top three pick. The chances of the Rangers getting either are slim. But in this year’s draft, that’s okay.
A top 10 pick this season is like a top-five pick in many others. That’s how good this season’s draft class is. The Rangers could likely get one of either Noah Dobson, Ty Smith, Evan Bouchard or Ryan Merkley with their current draft spot. All players are highly touted defensive prospects. If the team slides a few more spots closer to number one, they may even get Quinn Hughes or Oliver Wahlstrom. In other words, they have a lot of good choices.
Even directly after selling everything at the trade deadline, the Rangers would have had some work to do to grab a top three pick. They were never that bad this season. In the 2018 draft, picks 4-10 have similar talent levels. There is no major drop off between who is projected at the fourth spot versus the tenth.
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While a Rangers tank may have slotted them in the top five of this year’s draft, the fact remains they will have a lot of talent with whoever they take in the top 10. The rebuild doesn’t start with the draft, however. The Rangers winning now just means the rebuild might not be as long.