New York Rangers: Should the team try and trade up in the draft?

Could the New York Rangers look to bundle together some assets for a second crack at the top ten?

Building a quality NHL roster requires a multi-year stretch of knocking the draft out of the park, signing value free agents and usually a lopsided trade or two. In most cases, teams that win the Stanley Cup have multiple players that were selected in the top ten of the draft as a foundation. Right now, the New York Rangers have three with a fourth on the way.

While the Rangers weren’t the team that drafted Mika Zibanejad back in 2011, thanks Ottawa, he was taken sixth overall. Sure, Lias Andersson is still growing as a player and yet to make a major impact at the NHL level, but he’s only 20-years-old. Lastly, Vitali Kravtsov is coming over to North America for the 2019-2020 season and should be ready to play come opening night.

Most importantly, come this June, the team will also add Jack Hughes or Kappo Kakko to the mix. This sets the team up nicely with a quality group of young talent to build around. While the defense is a story for another day, the Rangers’ organization has reportedly sent out the word that this summer, they’ll be extremely active in free agency and on the trade market.

With a bundle of assets for the second straight year, New York could stand to make a variety of different types of moves. While there are five restricted free agents in need of contracts and a 28-year-old Chris Kreider with one year remaining on his deal that need to be sorted out, the Rangers have flexibility.

Candidates

Typically, if a team is willing to part with assets to move up in the draft, that means they really love a specific prospect. Although rare in the NHL, this is much more common in the NFL, teams will bundle several draft picks to move in front of another team especially to select a quarterback.

While no one player in hockey has as much impact as a quarterback does in football, if the Rangers feel strongly about a particular player, they shouldn’t be gun shy to pull the trigger on a potential move. There are a handful of high-end prospects that could fall somewhere between pick five and ten worth moving assets to have a chance at selecting.

First, there’s defenseman Bowen Byram of the Vancouver Giants in the WHL. Byram is the textbook modern NHL defensemen that can skate circles around the opposition while moving the puck with crisp precision. More importantly for the Rangers, he’s strong in his own end of the ice, something the team desperately needs.

Second, there’s center Alex Turcotte of the United States development program. NBCSN describes Turcotte as “the next best thing besides [Jack] Hughes.” While that may be high praise, his dominant age 18 season on a surging USNDP was extremely encouraging and at a position, the Rangers are unsure about.

Lastly, this is a personal choice, but Cole Caufield of the USNDT was absolutely lethal playing with Hughes this past year. The reason the Wisconsin native falls down the board is due to him only being 5’7 because his raw hockey skills are incredible. A true goal scorer from almost anywhere on the ice, Caufield would bolster any team’s top six.

The cost and candidate

The main issue with trading up into the top ten is the reluctance of teams to pass on young, cheap and team controlled talent. Why would a rebuilding team in the lottery agree to pass on the chance to draft a player it could have under team control for eight seasons? Well in a perfect world, the Rangers could pounce on a team that feels the heat to compete right away.

Paging new Edmonton Oilers G.M. Ken Holland…

It’s going to cost the Rangers Kreider and a pick that isn’t second overall pick, but New York can add another elite talent to the pool. The Oilers pick eighth overall and are an organization that desperately wants to right the ship as soon as possible. Sending Kreider to Alberta gives them a bonafide goal scorer to add to the top six right away.

It allows Holland to send a message that he won’t waste any more of Connor McDavid’s all-world talent while also making a good move. On McDavid’s wing, Kreider would have to fall off a cliff to not finally hit the 30 goal plateau and for good measure, there’d be two other mid-first round picks to help restock the prospect pool.

Now, if I were the one who had to send the card up to the podium on draft night at eighth overall, I’d want to do it for either Caufield or Turcotte. Both probably need a year of seasoning in the minors before they’d be ready for the NHL, but are the exact type of talent that a rebuilding Rangers team should covet.

Although unlikely, with the right stroke of luck, the Rangers could walk away with two top ten picks and firmly establish the organization as the league’s best crop of young talent.