With some chatter that the NHL Entry Draft will actually still be held in June it’s worth a deeper look into the recent drafting trends for the New York Rangers.
The New York Rangers like players from Europe. If there is one thing to be learned from looking at recents drafts, it’s that the European scouting contingent holds a lot of sway when it comes to making picks, especially those in the first round.
Since July 2015, when Jeff Gorton took over as General Manager the Rangers have had six first round picks. With those picks, they selected one Finn, two Swedes, one Russian, one Czech and one USA-born player, K’Andre Miller. Canada is conspicuously absent.
In fact, of the 31 players drafted by he Ranges since 2016, 17 are from Europe and 14 from North America with seven each from the United States and Canada. The disparity is even more glaring looking at the top three rounds. Of the 13 picks taken in those rounds, only two are from Canada.
Here’s the breakdown:
Rds 1-3 Rds 4-7 Total
Canada 2 5 7
Czech Republic 1 1 2
Finland 1 4 5
Russia 1 0 1
Sweden 5 3 8
Switzerland 0 1 1
United States 3 4 7
What’s immediately noticeable is the number of Swedish players drafted by New York in those four drafts. Over a quarter of the picks are from Sweden including five of 13 in the top three rounds.
Of the 31 players drafted under Jeff Gorton’s leadership, four have made it to the NHL (Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson and Tim Gettinger) with Kakko and Chytil as regulars. Not one Canadian prospect has made it to the Rangers or the NHL over the last four years.
Compared to other teams
We looked at the 13 teams within five points of the Rangers when play was halted in March in order to see how the Blueshirts compare when it comes to drafting players.
First off, the fact that they have nurtured only two NHL regulars out of the last four drafts is completely consistent with the competition. Of the 14 similar teams, five have seen one player they have drafted make it as an NHL regular. Six including the Rangers have found two NHL regulars. Three teams have produced three regulars. One fact worth noting is that while the Calgary Flames drafted three current NHL players, only two are playing for them (Matthew Tkachuk and Dillon Dube). The third is the Rangers’ own Adam Fox.
Where there are disparities is when it comes to drafting European players as opposed to North Americans. As noted, five of the six first rounders drafted by Gorton are from Europe. None of the other 13 teams have as many as three. The Rangers are clearly ahead when it comes to European players drafted in the first three rounds with their eight prospects. Toronto and Carolina have drafted seven, all other teams drafted fewer.
Even the teams that drafted more Europeans in the first three rounds also picked a lot of North American players. For example, Carolina selected seven Europeans and 12 North American players in the first three rounds. Toronto took seven Europeans and six North American players.
The fact is that a high percentage of players drafted by the Rangers are from Europe. Here’s how they compare:
Total Picks Europe North America
Rangers 31 17 (55%) 14
Columbus 21 12 (57%) 9
Calgary 24 12 (50%) 12
Edmonton 27 13 (48%) 14
Nashville 26 12 (46%) 14
Toronto 33 15 (45%) 18
Winnipeg 25 11 (44%) 14
Vancouver 29 12 (41%) 17
Arizona 32 12 (38%) 20
Carolina 35 13 (37%) 22
Florida 27 10 (37%) 17
Minnesota 25 8 (32%) 17
Dallas 23 7 (30%) 16
NY Islanders 24 7 (29%) 17
Columbus is the only team among the 14 that drafted a higher percentage of European players than the Rangers and the Blue Jackets had the fewest total number of draft picks over the last four years affecting their percentages.
So, does it really matter?