Still on cloud nine New York Rangers fans? You have every right to be following the crazy events of Tuesday night.
Heading into the NHL Lottery Draft with a 7.5 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick, the New York Rangers were keeping everything crossed for an unexpected gift.
And the hockey gods certainly delivered with the No. 2 overall selection coming back to the Big Apple with the Blueshirts.
All eyes will now be firmly focused on the 2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver on Friday, June 21 when the course of this storied franchise could be dramatically altered.
Too much hyperbole? I don’t think so.
You can’t overstate just how pivotal it was for the Rangers to have a top three pick land on their laps, which has come at the perfect time for this rebuild.
This off-season was always going to be a momentous one for the New York Rangers, but it has taken on even more significance in the wake of Tuesday night’s events.
Make no bones about it, this roster needs a star, an elite player that can spark this rebuild into orbit and become the face of this franchise.
The Rangers now have the chance to select a potential game-changer in the draft and accelerate their return to the upper echelons of powerhouses in the NHL.
Jack Hughes is the crown Jewel of this year’s draft and it is widely expected that he’ll go to the New Jersey Devils, who were awarded the No. 1 overall pick on Tuesday for the second time in three years.
But the consolation prize isn’t one to be sniffed at if the Rangers do indeed select Finnish stud, Kaapo Kakko.
The prospect, who has been likened to the Florida Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov (high praise indeed) and Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes, has a high hockey IQ and a boatload of skill and is also able to cope with the rough and tumble of professional hockey.
He has all the attributes to morph into an elite playmaker capable of making big plays at the NHL level.
Kakko looks to be a huge talent with an unbelievably high ceiling and he’s just the sort of prospect needed to really accelerate this rebuild.
Focus will then swiftly turn to free agency and the trade market.
Armed with around $20 million in cap space, the Rangers are expected to be very active in the off-season and being able to boast the No. 2 pick should only encourage them further to go out and make moves in order to bolster this roster.
All in all, last night was absolutely huge for the New York Rangers and it sets them up for a sustained run at greatness.
If they do indeed select Kakko with the No. 2 pick and can add an elite superstar of the ilk of an Artemi Panarin in free agency, then it puts this storied franchise on the precipice of becoming a genuine Stanley Cup contender once again.
Get ready, Rangers fans, because things are about to get interesting.