Redrafting the New York Rangers part 3: Rebuilding a contender

Redrafting the New York Rangers, year by year

This is the third of a three part series looking at the New York Rangers NHL Entry Draft selections from 2003 to 2019.  Did the Blueshirts make the right selection or would they do it differently? In our third installment, we’ll look at 2014-19 when the Rangers were knocking on the doors to Stanley Cup glory, but ultimately found themselves in playoff purgatory. All of this resulted with the front office penning ‘The Letter.’ 

If you missed part one of this series you can find it – here.

If you missed part two of this series you can find it – here.

As of 2019, in the past fifty years, the losers of the Stanley Cup Finals have gone on to do the following:

• 6 out of 49 (12%) missed playoffs.
• 17 out of 49 (35%) made playoffs but failed to win a round.
• 3 out of 49 (6%) made the Cup Final but lost.
• 2 out of 49 (4%) won the Cup.

Going into the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals, the losers of the prior five Finals went on to do the following in the next season:

• 2014: Bruins – Lost second round, 4-3 to Canadiens
• 2013: Devils – Missed playoffs
• 2012: Canucks – Lost first round, 4-1 to Kings
• 2011: Flyers – Lost second round, 4-0 to Bruins
• 2010: Red Wings- Lost second round, 4-1 to Sharks

The majority of these teams went on to do some form of a rebuild. The New York Rangers followed suit and did the same.

The only two teams to bounce back after losing in the Finals and win the next year were the 1984 Edmonton Oilers and the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins. The New York Rangers didn’t buck the trend, losing the 2015 Conference Finals to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Side Note:

For those that remember, Marian Hossa played for the Penguins when they lost to the Detroit Red Wings in 2008. Hossa then joined the Red Wings the following season when they lost to the Penguins in 2009. Luckily, Hossa would then go to Chicago to win in 2010, 2013 and 2015, but 2008 and 2009 were tough on Hossa.

Historical Context

We’re continuing on with our historical slideshow. It’s 2013 (prior to Stanley Cup loss) and John Tortorella has lost the respect of his players. In an unusual move, the Vancouver Canucks (after they failed to return to the Stanley Cup after losing in Game 7 to the Boston Bruins in 2011) and the New York Rangers swap coaches. John Tortorella goes to Vancouver and the New York Rangers bring in Alain Vigneault. The two men are seemingly foils to one another. Everything about them is different from their coaching styles to their vocal presence.

In his first year as the New York Rangers’ head coach, Alain Vigneault brought the franchise back to the Stanley Cup Finals. However, the Los Angeles Kings took down the Rangers in just five games.

The team made several trades that have bolstered the club’s chances of winning now, but it was all for naught. Contracts and assets were dealt with caution to the wind and the New York Rangers would go 2013-2016 without a first-round draft pick.

Here is a reexamination of what they dealt and who they ended up with.

2014 – Original Selection #59  Brandon Halverson

In the summer immediately after the Los Angeles heartbreak, the New York Rangers drafted Brandon Halverson out of the OHL

To date, Brandon Halverson has played in one game NHL game and that was simply to relieve a shell-shocked Henrik Lundqvist. In 13 minutes played, Halverson allowed one goal and made five saves.

Goalie development is a gamble. Each goaltender finds their stride at a different point. I don’t see anything ‘wrong’ with the selection, especially at the time, but Halverson was going to have a difficult job cracking the New York Rangers lineup.

What’s ironic is that the Rangers drafted another goalie in the same year who will has a chance to become a New York legend. In the fourth-round, the New York Rangers selected Igor Shesterkin with the 118th pick. If Shesterkin continues to develop this could end up being one of the most memorable drafts in New York Rangers history.

As for Halverson, he wasn’t given a qualifying offer by the Rangers had has been playing in the AHL.

New Selection: Brayden Point

Originally selected with the 79th pick in the draft, Brayden Point has turned out to arguably be a top five player from the draft. The Calgary native has 262 points in only 295 games played. Point has the third highest PPG from the draft class, behind only Leon Draisaitl and David Pastrnak, and the fourth highest point total only behind Draisaitl, Pastrnak and Dylan Larkin.

Brayden Point is the perfect ‘hindsight player.’

Draft Note:

The Rangers traded their 2014 and 2015 first-round picks away with Ryan Callahan in order to acquire Martin St. Louis. The 2014 pick was initially a conditional second-round pick. If the New York Rangers made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, which they did, the second-round pick would become a first-round pick, which it did.

Other notable players available:

#108 Devon Toews, #112 Viktor Arvidsson, #116 Danton Heinen, #138 Oskar Lindbolm, #171 Kevin Labanc, #205 Ondrej Kase

2015 – Original Selection #41 Ryan Gropp

In 2015, the New York Rangers had Ryan Gropp listed as the sixth-best forward prospect in the entire draft. The Rangers traded up to acquire Gropp with the 41st pick with the hopes that Gropp would be the steal of the draft.

Fast-forward to October 2019 and Gropp has yet to crack the NHL lineup. He’s struggled at the AHL level and was suspended by the Hartford Wolf Pack for failing to report to the Rangers’ ECHL affiliate the Maine Mariners.

The journey has been a back breaking one for the winger, but at 23, Gropp could still bounce back and breakout.  He’s a Restricted Free Agent and it remains to be seen if the Blueshirts will offer him a new contract.

New Selection: Jordan Greenway

Jack Eichel’s and Brady Tkachuk’s one-time teammate and linemate at Boston University, Jordan Greenway is a physical force. At 6’6″ and 225 pounds, Greenway makes his presence known on the ice. Thehockeywriters.com compared him to Milan Lucic and thought that he could have been drafted late in the first-round.

Greenway has played nearly two full seasons with the Minnesota Wild now and has situated himself comfortably as a bottom-six player at only  23-years old.

Born in Canton, NY Jordan Greenway would be a hometown favorite. He’s someone the Rangers should consider acquiring in the future; especially since David Quinn was his former coach at BU.

Other notable players available:

#42 Mackenzie Blackwood, #46 Daniel Sprong, #49 Roope Hintz, #53 Rasmus Andersson, #72 Anthony Cirelli

2016 – Original Selection #81: Sean Day

In 2013, Sean Day was given exceptional status to play in the Ontario Hockey League a year early. The only players to have ever been given exceptional status in the OHL are John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Connor McDavid and future draft pick – Shane Wright. Minus Wright, that’s some pretty proven company.

However, unlike the trio before him, Sean Day was not drafted first-overall in either his OHL draft or the NHL draft.

Scouts saw a solid player in Day, but felt that the pieces to the Sean Day-puzzle just hadn’t come together yet. He had been slated to be drafted in the second-round in the 2016 NHL draft, but slipped all the way to the third.

Sean Day has bounced around between the AHL and ECHL since he’s made the leap to playing professionally. The New York Rangers had hoped that he would finally hit that extra gear and live up to that exceptional status potential, but at 22, Sean Day still continued to frustrate the organization.

At the end of May of this year, the New York Rangers placed Sean Day on unconditional waivers after both sides mutually agreed to terminate his contract.

Sean Day could still be a viable player one day – it won’t be with the Rangers – but here’s hoping the skilled prospect figures it out elsewhere.

Update:

Sean Day was signed by the Tampa Bay Lightning on 7/17/2020 to a one-year, two-way contract for $700,000.

Tampa Bay might as well change their name to Tampa Bay Rangers at this point.

New Selection: Victor Mete

At 5’9″ and 187 pounds, Victor Mete is most certainly an undersized defenseman. However, he has a great deal of skill and strong hockey IQ. His biggest fault to his game at the NHL-level is his turnovers. He has 24 takeaways to 145 career giveaways, but he balances this out with a positive corsi rating.

If Victor Mete was a bigger body he more than likely would have gone in the first or second-round. Instead, solely due to size, he dropped to the fourth-round and the 100th-overall selection to Montreal.

Draft Note:

The New York Rangers would go on to acquire 2016’s #21 Julien Gauthier, #27 Brett Howden, #37 Libor Hajek and #66 Adam Fox by trade in future seasons.

Other notable players available:

#133 Max Lajoie, #141 Tim Gettinger, #162 Jesper Bratt

2017 – Original Selection #7 Lias Andersson

‘If you can’t say anything nice…’

A lot has already been said on Lias Andersson and his tumultuous relationship with the New York Rangers. At the time, this pick was viewed to be a stretch, but his ‘desire to win‘ seemed promising… His behavior may be questionable as of late, but I’m going to remain optimistic that Lias Andersson will prove to be a strong pick.

This was the first draft that the New York Rangers selected within in the top-ten since Al Montoya in 2004. Hopefully, the results will be different this go around.

New Selection: Nick Suzuki

Nick Suzuki was drafted with the 13th-overall pick in 2017 by the Vegas Golden Knights and then shipped with Tomas Tatar and a second-round pick to Montreal for Max Pacioretty.

In his rookie debut this season, Suzuki put up 41 points in 71 contests. The Rangers are still in need of help down the middle and if Andersson and the the front office can’t find a ‘new normal’, Suzuki would do the job nicely.

Original Selection #21  Filip Chytil

Filip Chytil was a pleasant surprise to say the least. He won the Lars-Erik Sjöberg award in 2017 – which is an annual award that goes to the best rookie in training camp. He made the opening day roster and when he was assigned to Hartford, Chytil was the youngest player to play in the AHL since 1974. That’s pretty impressive resume to begin your career as a New York Ranger.

Now a full-time Blueshirt, Filip Chytil needs to take that next step and start to produce on a more consistent level. His skillset is a treat to watch, but consistency is key.

New Selection: Filip Chytil

Thus far he’s been a solid prospect. His PPG and plus-minus are lacking, but he’s shown that he has so much talent to bring to the game. Only Nico Hischier, Miro Heiskanen, and Nolan Patrick have played more games from the 2017 draft class.

Draft Note:

The New York Rangers traded Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta for Anthony DeAngelo and what would become the seventh-overall pick (Lias Andersson)

Other notable players available:

#8 Casey Mittelstadt, #12 Martin Necas, #20 Robert Thomas, #27 Morgan Frost #29 Henri Jokiharju, #139 Sebastian Aho

2018 – Original Selection #9 Vitali Kravtsov

Vitali Kravtsov seems raring to go. His spirits were initially deterred when he didn’t make the Rangers’ opening day lineup. After a stay in Hartford, Kravtsov returned to the KHL hoping to rejuvenate his game. The opposite appears to have happened.

On his European return, Kravtsov bounced between the KHL’s Chelyabinsk Traktor and then its affiliate team in the less publicized VHL. All signs indicate that Kravtsov was eager to accept the olive branch – training camp invitation – from New York Rangers.

Hopefully this means that Vitali Kravtsov is optimistic and opportunistic and a permanent fixture in the lineup next season. Even more, maybe Lias Andersson will see Kravtsov flourish and follow suit. Fingers crossed.

New Selection: Joel Farrabee*

*This is only if Kravtsov and the Rangers can’t permanently mend their relationship.

Joel Farrabee was quickly able to make an impact for the Philadelphia Flyers. Vitali Kravtsov has far more potential, but Joel Farabee is scrappy. He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty and has a great offensive game to go with it. Vitali Kravtsov is bigger and stronger, but Farrabee has been a pleasant surprise for the Philadelphia Flyers thus far.

Original Selection #22: K’Andre Miller

The New York Rangers traded up from 26th to 22nd in order to draft K’Andre Miller. Miller had recently transitioned from playing forward to defense and the Rangers felt that the U.S. National Team prospect would emerge into a refined two-way defenseman.

In a 2018 interview, Jeff Gorton said of K’Andre Miller “Special athlete, special kid… On the ice there is unlimited potential, he can really skate, is big, aggressive and just touching the surface here. He is a guy that, at the end of the day, he will do everything he can to be as good as he can and those are the players that we want.””

New Selection: K’Andre Miller

All indications point to Miller being a leader in years to come. He’s taking his development seriously and is continuing to mature. His response to the the racist remarks maliciously written in the Rangers Zoom meeting only proves that he’s capable of next-level leadership.

Original Selection: #28: Nils Lundkvist

Nils Lundkvist has remained in Sweden since he was drafted. There appears to be no rush in either the player or the program to bring Lundkvist state side. With the Rangers having such a deep defensive-prospect pool, it’s probably for the best. Lundkvist was a key contributor to the bronze-medal winning Swedish team at the 2020 WJC in the Czech Republic.

All indications suggest that Nils Lundkvist could be a top-four defenseman in years to come. However, there is a logjam with Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Libor Hajek, Jacob Trouba, Tony DeAngelo, Marc Staal, and K’Andre Miller all established or vying for spots. Not to mention, Matthew Robertson (drafted 49th overall in 2019), Zac Jones (drafted 68th overall in 2019) and Yegor Rykov (drafted 132nd in 2016) are all nipping at his heels.

New Selection: Nils Lundkvist

It’s really just too early to tell. He’s coming off a dominant season in the Swedish Hockey League and could be there another year or two. Hopefully the skills he’s exhibited overseas makes its way to Manhattan sooner rather than later.

Franchise Note:

On February 8, 2018, Glen Sather and Jeff Gorton penned and published the famous letter. They would go on to trade Nick Holden, Michael Grabner, Rick Nash, J.T. Miller and Ryan McDonagh prior to the trade deadline. The rebuild had officially begun.

Alain Vigneault was relieved of his coaching duties on April, 7, 2018. The New York Rangers would bring in David Quinn from Boston University in the summer.

Other notable players available:

#11 Oliver Wahlstrom, #12 Noah Dobson, #15 Grigori Denisenko, #17 Ty Smith, #29 Rasmus Sandin, #68 Tyler Madden

What could have been

Over our three part series we have listed some options if you could redraft.  Here’s what the starting could have looked like.

T.J. Oshie – Claude Giroux – Vladimir Tarasenko

Chris Kreider – Brayden Point – Jake Guentzel

Alexei Cherepanov – J.T. Miller – Kappo Kakko

Joel Farabee – Travis Zajac – Jordan Greenway

Filip Chytil

Brent Burns – John Carlson

Brady Skjei – Victor Mete

K’Andre Miller –  Mike Green

Igor Shesterkin

Henrik Lundqvist

Looking ahead

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda… But we are where we are, because we were where we were.

The roster could have looked entirely different today had the New York Rangers shifted their picks ever so slightly over the years, sure, but hopefully we’ve learned a few lessons along the way. It appears that the front office is past the days of dealing out first and second-round picks in order to fill a slot with a veteran past his prime. Hopefully, the next generation with Kaapo Kakko, Igor Shesterkin and the other talent youth get this team back to the pinnacle of hockey glory.

The future is bright my friends!

Comment below your thoughts, your feelings and your hopes and dreams. Who would you have selected? Who would have reselected?