New York Rangers: Notable players drafted at each draft position

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.

Fourth overall

This is where things start to get exciting, if the Rangers were able to pick fourth overall, they’d be picking on the end of the talent scale where a player could realistically be expected to make an impact come this fall. In recent years, the fourth overall pick has a wide range of outcomes on a scale of elite forward to just 37 NHL games played.

Best: Mitch Marner Toronto Maple Leafs 2015

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ multi-year rebuild approach was not for the faint of heart, but there’s not arguing that things worked out pretty well for the organization. Part of that equation was landing Mitch Marner with the fourth overall pick in arguably the most loaded top-ten of any draft this decade.

Underrated: Seth Jones Nashville Predators 2013

Thus far into Seth Jones’ NHL career, he’s played for two small market teams and it’s part of why he’s so underappreciated. A right-handed defenseman capable of playing 28 minutes per night in the postseason is the type of building block every single team in the league would like to have. Getting the third best player in his draft class fourth overall was a steal.

Worst: Griffin Reinhart New York Islanders 2012

If you’re beginning to sense a theme surrounding former Islanders’ g.m. Garth Snow, you wouldn’t be wrong. When the team selected defenseman Griffin Reinhart fourth overall back in 2012, the team thought it would solve the issue on the blueline. The Reinhart is with his third different organization since being drafted and played just 37 games at the NHL level.

This is a hall of fame bad whiff on a top-five pick.

Third overall

Right on the outskirts of guaranteed talent, the third overall pick is as close to a lock for dependable NHL talent as it comes. Every single player selected here this decade that’s played at least two seasons has hit the 100 game plateau easily and the two that haven’t, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Miro Heiskanen, are coming off of great rookie campaigns.

Best: Leon Draisaitl Edmonton Oilers 2014

There were nine players that reached the 100 point plateau this past NHL season. Two of them happened to be members of the Edmonton Oilers, and we’ll be seeing the other one in a couple of minutes. But simply put, Leon Draisaitl is one of the great young forwards in the NHL today and still getting better.

Underrated: Pierre-Luc Dubois Columbus Blue Jackets 2016

Another victim of the environment he plays in, Pierre-Luc Dubois of the Columbus Blue Jackets is only 20-years-old and has already registered two solid seasons as a pro. This past year, he recorded 61 points and centered the teams first line on and off. This is the type of talent the Rangers could luck into with a top three pick.

Worst: Erik Gudbranson Florida Panthers 2010

While Erik Gudbranson is not the worst defenseman in the entire league, he’s not the type of talent a team should be looking for with the third overall pick. The big, plodding defenseman was perfect for the NHL of ten years ago, but in today’s game looks a step behind. He’s played nearly 500 games and will likely stick around for a while based on where he was drafted.

Second overall

Of the picks thus far, second was the hardest to truly determine a best. There are three talents clearly all on a plain of their own and worthy of special recognition. For any team picking this high to mess up, it takes a terrible recipe of failure on multiple levels. So, starting with three of the 20 best players in the entire league…

Best: Tyler Seguin/Jack Eichel/Aleksander Barkov

Picking one of these three as the best is unfair because both Eichel and Barkov likely have room to improve and eventually get to the level Seguin is currently at. All three are marquee centers and some of the most recognizable talents in the entire league that should flirt with 100 point seasons for the majority of their primes.

Underrated: Gabriel Landeskog Colorado Avalanche 2011

It feels weird referring to Gabriel Landeskog as underrated because of both how good a player the Swede is as well as how long he’s been in the league, but it felt right. The forward is hitting his prime at age 26 and is coming off of a 75 point season for a playoff team. The scary thing is, as his supporting cast improves, so will his numbers.

Worst: Ryan Murray Columbus Blue Jackets 2012

The hope whenever a team picks second overall is that it will land a player to build around for more than a decade. Sure, having a solid NHL career is a perfectly fine outcome, but the Blue Jackets likely would have liked to get more out of defenseman and former second overall pick Ryan Murray.

A second pair blueliner seems uninspiring with the second overall pick. It is fair to mention that the 2012 draft as a whole was not particularly deep, to begin with.