New York Rangers Draft Preview: Don’t even think about these guys
The NHL Entry Draft is in less than two weeks. We all know about the New York Rangers first pick, but who will they take with their second pick? Here are the players who definitely won’t be available at #20, but could be if the Rangers trade up.
Every year at the NHL Draft there are consensus top picks. This June, every single draft prognosticator has Jack Hughes as the top pick and Kaapo Kakko going at number two. Here are the others that the New York Rangers could pick with their second pick, but won’t. One thing is for sure, they will all be gone by the time the Rangers pick 20th.
Rangers fans are eternal optimists. They believe that the team will trade up and get a second top ten pick in the draft. The odds of that happening are slim to none since a draft day acquisition of a top ten pick hasn’t happened in years (except for the Derek Stepan deal with Arizona). Top picks are incredibly valuable in the current NHL. Could the Rangers could put together an attractive enough package to get one? Doubtful.
Blue Line Station will be providing previews of the NHL Entry Draft leading up to Friday, June 21st. To get as complete a picture as possible, we’ve surveyed 11 top draft rankings to come up with our lists. If you want to check out the rankings yourself, there will be a full list at the end of this article.
We start our coverage with a list of the 11 players who most believe will be selected in the top ten. These are the elite players in a very deep draft.
Notes on the top prospects
Some things worth noting about the top prospects. Five are members of the U.S. U-18 National Development Team, led by Jack Hughes. It’s a tribute to USA Hockey that so many top prospects are coming up through the development pipeline.
There is only one defenseman, Bowen Byram, on the list. This draft is deep at forward, but short on blueliners with most of the best defense prospects coming from Europe. Four defensemen went top ten in 2018.
Six of the top 11 players are centers. With NHL teams valuing center-ice men more than wingers, it is very possible that six of the top eight picks could be pivots.
There are three centers from WHL teams on the list. Dylan Cozens, Kirby Dach and Peyton Krebs all have similar backgrounds and it’s up to individual team assessments to determine who goes first.
There are only two players from Europe on the list. Finnish Kaapo Kakko is the top European player, but he is joined only by Vasili Podkolzin, from Russia. That’s a big change from last June when six of the top ten players selected were from Europe, including the top three (Rasmus Dahlin, Andrei Svechnikov and Jesperi Kotkaniemi)
Now, on to the top 11 players in the draft.
The top 11 prospects
There are 11 players who show up in all of the top rankings. None of them (except one) slip as far down as 15th so the assumption is that there is no way that they will be around when the Blueshirts name their second pick. These are also the players that the team would target if they could trade up.
- Jack Hughes, C – Hughes is the consensus top pick in all 11 rankings. If the Devils do not take him, it will be a huge upset. Do we need to tell you more about Hughes? Nah.
- Kaapo Kakko, RW – The future Ranger is ranked the second best prospect in all 11 rankings. Watching him at the World Championships, you know why. If you want to improve your day, just watch this video.
- Bowen Byram, D – Byram is the top ranked defenseman in the draft. NHL Central Scouting has him in the second slot among North American skaters. Eight prognosticators have him going third or fourth in the draft. The Sporting News had Byram at seventh overall and ESPN ranked him 10th. How good is he? This spring, with the Vancouver Giants, he became the first defenseman in WHL history to lead all teams in playoff scoring.
- Alex Turcotte, C – Turcotte is a center for the U.S. National Development Team where he was the second line center behind Jack Hughes. He scored 27 goals and had 62 points in 37 games. Ten of the 11 experts had him going in the top seven or below. Only Craig Button had Turcotte at 10th overall while two had him at third, right after Hughes and Kakko.
- Dylan Cozens, C – Cozens is a center who plays for Lethbridge in the WHL. He was a linemate of Rangers prospect Jake Elmer, helping him to the best offensive year of his career. Four of our experts had him going fifth overall and all had him in the top ten except TSN’s Craig Button who had him at 14th.
- Kirby Dach,C – Cozens and Dach are almost interchangeable. Dach is also a center, playing for Saskatoon in the WHL. Eight rankings had him in the top ten and his worst was 12th overall, again by Button of TSN. Dach is considered more of a playmaker than a scorer as he finished with almost one primary point per game this season.
- Peyton Krebs, C – Krebs is yet another center playing in the WHL. The Kootenay Ice player fell between eighth and 12th in all of the rankings. In a draft wrinkle, Krebs suffered an achilles injury that required surgery this week and will be out of action into next season. Could that drop him in the rankings?
- Matthew Boldy, LW – Boldy is a left wing and a linemate of Jack Hughes on the U.S. National Development Team. He was a top ten pick by seven of our experts and didn’t rank lower than 12th overall. A top scorer, the question is how much he benefited from being the recipient of Jack Hughes passes.
- Cole Caufield, RW – The experts are split over Caufield. As Hughes’ right wing Caulfield was a prolific goal scorer. He broke all records by scoring 72 goals in 64 games (yes, you read that right). He totaled 100 points. Caufield’s stock has been rising, especially after a stellar performance at the U-18 Junior Championships. Our experts are split with five having him in the top nine and the rest ranking him from 10th to 13th. The reason? He’s tiny at 5’7″, 162 lbs. Size issues aside, he will definitely go early.
- Vasili Podkolzin, RW – The Russian right winger has seen his stock plummet over the last few months. Going into the season he was the consensus top pick after Hughes and Kakko. Elite Prospects and the Sporting News still have him at number three, but Corey Pronman of the Athletic has him ranked 14th overall. Nine experts still have him in the top ten and he is the second best European skater according to NHL Central Scouting. No Russian skater has gone top five since Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin in 2004. Podkolzin could break that streak.
- Trevor Zegras, C – Zegras makes this list because he is a top ten pick for all of the lists except Eliteprospects.com. He is another player from the U.S. National Development Team and is ranked as high as number four by the Sporting News and number five by McKeen’s and the Hockey News. For some reason, he slipped to #21 in the Elite Prospects rankings with no real justification for that placement. NHL Central Scouting had him as the sixth best North American skater. It’s a tribute to his skill that he makes this list as he is the third line center playing for the U.S. U-18 National team, along with Hughes and Turcotte . Zegras is a native of Bedford, NY.
There should be no surprises when it comes to these eleven players on June 21. They will all get the call, it’s just a matter for where in the draft order.
There is a noticeable lack of defensemen among the top players with Bowen Byram the only blueliner listed. If a team picking before the Rangers #20 is looking to fill a defensive need, that’s where a possible higher ranked pick could fall into New York’s lap.
There is also always the chance that a team will go with an off-the-board pick just as the Rangers did in selection Lias Andersson in 2017 and Vitali Kravtsov last year.
In our next report, we will look at some players who have cracked the top 15 who could slip down and be available to the Rangers. There are a few fascinating possibilities.
More. The season is too long. light
Here is the list of 11 draft ranking websites. Click on the website name to see their full rankings.
Elite Prospects.com – The top 31 prospects ranked in April.
ESPN, Chris Peters – Top 50 players in the draft, ranked on May 6.
The Hockey News, Ryan Kennedy – The top 120 players in the draft, ranked on June 3
ISS Hockey – June rankings of the top 62 players
McKeen’s Hockey, Iain Morrell – The top 31 picks ranked on June 1.
NHL Central Scouting – The official final draft rankings divided between North American and European skaters and goalies.
The Sporting News, Steve Kournianos -Top 31 picks ranked on April 14.
Sportsnet, Sam Cosentino – He ranked the top 31 picks on May 8.
TSN, Craig Button – The TSN prospect guru revealed his top 31 on June 6.
TSN Mock Draft 4.0, Darren Yourk – TSN’s final top 29 was revealed on May 22.
The Athletic, Corey Pronman ranked the top 31 on June 6. (subscription required)