New York Rangers: The team’s draft history is cause for concern
The New York Rangers have long struggled to draft effectively. With so much riding on this June’s draft, there is cause for concern.
Simply put, the NHL entry draft is an organization’s lifeline during troubled times. If a team has control of its own draft picks, they can improve at little to no cost. The beauty of the NHL’s salary cap is that it allows young talent to be underpriced. In addition, young players are good for overall health of a franchise. If a team is continually bringing in retreads through free agency, the roster gets stale.
The biggest shock for the Rangers was that ownership and the front office were willing to admit that the team needed to go back to the drawing board. The general consensus is that teams cannot rebuild in New York, the demands are simply too great from the fans and media. However, James Dolan gave Jeff Gorton the seal of approval to General Manager Jeff Gorton to tear it all down.
Yet, tearing it all down is a whole lot easier than building it back up. Ask the Vancouver Canucks or Buffalo Sabres how easy it is to build through the draft. Those organizations are mired in a perpetual rebuild with no hope in sight.
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The Rangers very own draft history should serve as a warning. Of New York’s last 32 draft picks only five have played two or more games at the NHL level. That kind of return on investment is troubling on multiple levels.
The concern
A big part of the inefficiencies of the entire draft process is the way organizations evaluate prospects. Instead of taking in players for what they are at the amateur level, there is a serious tendency for scouts to project onto players.
Take the case of former Rangers first round draft pick Dylan McIlrath. The big bruiser never amounted to much at the NHL level. Whenever McIlrath was in the lineup, he thought that it meant he had to fight the other team’s enforcer. The defenseman’s entire development was stunted for a litany of reasons, starting with New York’s evaluation of him.
At the time, the team saw the defenseman as the modern iteration of Jeff Beukeboom. A physical, crease clearing defenseman that looked after his puck moving defensive partner. This was being foolishly optimistic on a detrimental level. Eight years after being drafted, McIlrath still struggles to skate at the NHL level. This was identified at the time, but the team simply brushed it off and figured that he would eventually learn to skate better.
Obviously, that never happened. The Rangers basically threw away the tenth overall pick in a talented draft class for a replacement level enforcer.
Fixing the hole
For New York, the team’s seven picks in the first three rounds, including three in the first, present an opportunity to sure up the future. At both the NHL level, and throughout the organization, there are lots of holes for prospects to capitalize on. Of course, it is important to remember that prospects take time to bring along.
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There is reason to have a nervous excitement about this year’s draft. The Rangers for the foreseeable future will begin to take shape on June 22nd. Being that these are the Rangers, they will blow their first round pick, but get a steal later on in the day. The team’s history is cause for concern. For every Derek Stepan, there has been a McIIrath.