With the NHL using a lottery system, there is an air of randomness surrounding the New York Rangers’ 2019 draft selection. Based on where they pick, they’ll have access to certain types of talent.
As anyone who’s followed the New York Rangers the past several years will tell you, the team lacked elite talent outside of Henrik Lundqvist. Even more importantly, it’s hard to win in the NHL when a team’s best player is between the pipes and not a regular skater. If the Rangers can manage to slide up into the top five, that may be a problem no longer.
The top-five of the draft is where franchise altering or even generation talent grows on trees. Every single team that’s won the Stanley Cup this decade had at least one if not two top five picks on its roster when it captured the best trophy in all of professional sports.
For the Rangers’ commitment to rebuilding to truly be worth it, the team must walk away with at least one major impact player that it drafted on its own. If New York legitimately wants to contend for a Stanley Cup over a multi-year period, it will take quality draft picks that are under team control for less than their market value.
By some miracle, if the Rangers manage to sneak into the top five when the ping pong balls are drawn, it would make the last two seasons of struggle worth it.