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New York Rangers off-season playbook

By Jim Madden

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Former Rangers color commentator John Davidson (R) and play by play announcer Sam Rosen (L) speak to the crowd prior to the game against Carolina Hurricanes during the 1994 Stanley Cup Anniversary event at Madison Square Garden on February 8, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Former Rangers color commentator John Davidson (R) and play by play announcer Sam Rosen (L) speak to the crowd prior to the game against Carolina Hurricanes during the 1994 Stanley Cup Anniversary event at Madison Square Garden on February 8, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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DALLAS, TX – JUNE 22: General Manager Jeff Gorton of the New York Rangers looks on from the draft table during the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 22, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The New York Rangers will continue their rebuild this summer with the second overall pick and four others within the first 70.  With salary cap flexibility and additional options to weigh it should be a very interesting summer.

In February of 2018, the New York Rangers announced that their team was going to embark upon a plan and approach to rebuild the entire franchise.  While this plan began with trading up in the 2017 draft, through the acquisition of draft picks and prospects by trading veteran players, the Rangers roster has changed by  80% since the rebuild began.  Barring any trades, the roster will fluctuate again in the upcoming 2019 NHL Draft with the Rangers holding five picks among the first 70 picks overall.

General Manager Jeff Gorton and his staff will add one of the world’s mercurial talents of this year’s draft in Jack Hughes or Kappo Kakko to join their growing list of top prospects.  The once bare cupboard now boasts among the highest rated prospects in the league including the recently signed Vitali Kravtsov, Igor Shesterkin, Adam Fox, Tarmo Reunanen  and Yegor Rykov.  While the draft ranking pundits will surely address and project the potential draft picks beyond the top two, we are focusing upon the rest of the upcoming summer and the opportunities and challenges that lay ahead for the Rangers and Gorton.

While Hughes or Kakko present a no-lose proposition, it will nonetheless have an impact on the other moves that Gorton and his staff will ponder and execute over the next several months. Both players will be franchise altering picks who will change the course of the Rangers’ rebuild, and the selection of either player will be the simplest and best move the Rangers will make this off-season. Let’s begin with first things first and look at the decisions that need to be made within the current roster.

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