The New York Rangers, after what seems like forever, finally have a good prospect pool. Highlighted by five first round draft picks in the last two years, the Rangers, at last, seem to have a real future.
What a difference a few years makes. The end of the 2015-16 season saw the New York Rangers get embarrassed in the first round by the Pittsburgh Penguins, losing in five games. Not only that, but their prospect pool was basically barren. Years of trading picks and prospects to go “all-in” had finally caught up to them.
However, a little over two years later, the Rangers have completely flipped the script. They now boast a group of prospects that is quite good.
It all started last year when Jeff Gorton traded Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta to the Arizona Coyotes for the seventh overall pick and Tony DeAngelo. Gorton then selected Swedish center Lias Andersson with the seventh pick and Czech center Filip Chytil with the 21st pick. Chytil and Andersson seem to be their future 1-2 punch up the middle.
This past season, Gorton was at work again, selling off veterans at the trade deadline. He traded Michael Grabner, Rick Nash, Ryan McDonagh, Nick Holden and J.T. Miller, bringing in a wealth of draft picks and prospects. This past weekend, Gorton drafted three first round players with tremendous upside in Vitali Kravtsov, K’Andre Miller and Nils Lundkvist.
Now that the New York Rangers have a future in place, let’s take a look at their best prospects, broken down by position.