How did the New York Rangers build the top farm system in the NHL?
The New York Rangers are coming off of one of there most successful off-seasons in a very long time. After drafting Kappo Kakko and signing Artemi Panarin, the Blueshirts are looking to be a playoff contender right away. How did the Rangers get to this point and how did they build one of the best farm systems in all of hockey?
Even though it’ll be a few years until the New York Rangers are in the conversation as contenders for a Stanley Cup championship, they are well on their way back to become a force in the playoffs. The Rangers front office, especially General Manager Jeff Gorton, has been working very hard in acquiring draft capital, mostly by letting go of players on the tail end of their contracts.
This all starts with making trades. It’s very hard to deal away fan favorites like Mats Zuccarello, and Kevin Hayes, but when the end result is more draft picks for the upcoming years, then you have to do it. These players have made big names for themselves and are difference makers, but are not in the future plans.
One name that comes to mind is Rick Nash. Nash was the first overall pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft and won the Maurice Richard Trophy in the 2003-2004 season as leading scorer. After six years with the Rangers, and at the age of 33, the team decided to part ways and send Nash to the Boston Bruins for Ryan Lindgren, a 2018 first round pick, a 2019 seventh round pick, Ryan Spooner, and Matt Beleskey. Nash would actually go on to retire at the end of that season.
The very next day in 2018, the Rangers would send Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Vladislav Namestnikov, Libor Hajek, Brett Howden, a 2018 first round pick (Nils Lundkvist) and a 2019 conditional second round pick (Karl Henriksson). Yu can already see this trade turning out in favor of the Rangers. Hajek has already proved himself and is already on the first line as a defender and Howden is just getting his feet wet on the third line. Meanwhile, Lundkvist and Henriksson are playing in the top league in Sweden and look to be making the move to North America soon.
Both of these trades by Gorton are only a tiny sample size of what deals he’s made. He’s turned aging players into young prospects that will be the future of the Blueshirts. Not only has he made trades for players with a very high upside, but he’s also made acquisitions for a lot of draft picks in the 2018 and 2019 NHL Entry’s Draft.
Draft Success Stories
Not only does Gorton handle all trades involving the Rangers, but he’s also the man responsible for drafting players in the Entry Draft every year. Just in terms of the last three drafts, Gorton has gone on and drafted some high caliber talent. Here’s just a snippet of who has joined the Blueshirts in the past few years.
Kappo KakkoWhat else can be said about Kakko? The Rangers lottery pick winner immediately made his presence known after registering his first career goal just three games into his career and quickly cemented himself in NHL history as the second player born in the 21st century to score in the NHL
The 19 year old Russian born wing has easily emerged as one of the most explosive players in the Rangers farm system. Not only did Kravtsov break the record for most points by a teenager in a single post season in the Kontinental Hockey League, but he would also go on to break his own record in the following postseason.
Considered one of top defenders in the NCAA with the University of Wisconsin, Miller gathered 22 points in 26 games in his freshman campaign last season. He would go on to be apart of the All-Big Ten Rookie Team and was also a finalist for Freshman of the Year.
: The 6’3″, 200 pound defender, makes very few mistakes and is a fiend with the puck in transition. In just eight games this season in the Western Hockey League, Robertson has already tallied six points on three goals.
Although chosen by former GM
, Shesterkin is quite possibly the heir to
. He allowed an extremely impressive 1.11 GAA in 28 starts in the KHL last season with a record of 24-4. In his first appearance in the NHL in a preseason game, he didn’t disappoint, as he stopped 36 of 40 shots against a very powerful Flyers team.
These are just a few of the Rangers’ top prospects currently in the NHL or in their minor league affiliate, Hartford Wolf Pack. With their own picks, the Rangers have drafted Filip Chytil, Kravtsov, Morgan Barron, Riley Hughes, Zac Jones and Nico Gross.
Players like Nils Lundkvist, Lias Andersson, Karl Henriksson , Joey Keane and Hunter Skinner have also been acquired by the Rangers via the Entry Draft as a result of trades. Yegor Rykov and Adam Fox join Ryan Lindgren, Howden and Hajek as prospects acquired in trades.
Trading, drafting, and even coaching all come into the conversation when talking about having the top farm system in all of hockey. If all of those pieces are working together as a unit, then that team will be successful in the future. It just happens to be that the Rangers are on that course right now and are already rebuilding. There trades have turned into draft picks, and those picks are easily on their way to being stars in the NHL. It’s only a matter of time before the Rangers are back in the playoffs on a regular basis and making a run for the Stanley Cup every year.
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