How the Rangers could look to move up in the draft
The New York Rangers should use assets to move up in the draft with their second pick
With the New York Rangers making headlines for recently winning the first overall pick in this year’s draft, it has overshadowed the fact that the team also has a second pick in the first round. After dealing Brady Skjei to the Carolina Hurricanes for the later of the Hurricanes or Maple Leaf’s first round pick, the Rangers now know they will be receiving Carolina’s original pick.
It looks like that pick will fall in the second half of the draft. It is most likely to fall in the 20’s range (this will depend on how far the Hurricanes go in the playoffs) and while having a later first round pick is still nothing to dismiss, the team should look into trying to trade up to get a better draft position.
The reason the team should do this is to have a better chance of targeting a highly skilled center, a position that the team lacks depth in. In theory, if the Canes draft pick were to end up in the 20-25 range and the Rangers were to use it to trade up to get into the 10-15 range, it opens up many more options.
The Rangers currently possess a number of players with uncertain futures, but who still have potential and are cost controlled. This could be an opportunity for them to trade from areas of depth or uncertainty, as well as possibly help save salary cap space for next season. Combining one of these players with the second pick in the first round, they may find a team willing to give the Rangers a better spot.
Possible trade bait
One name that comes to mind right away is Lias Andersson. After a couple of disappointing years, as well as the current bad blood between him and the organization, this could be a great opportunity for the former seventh overall pick to get a fresh start, while also giving the team some sort of return for him. It is unlikely that Andersson returns to the team and even if so it would be a miracle for him to have any significant impact given he would most likely be performing in a fourth line role. The question is if anyone would want him considering his history.
Another name that comes to mind is center Brett Howden. Similar to Anderson, Howden is a former first rounder who showed a lot of promise when he was traded to the Rangers from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Also, similar to Andersson, Howden has performed below these expectations and serves a role primarily on the fourth line. Despite his disappointing time with the Rangers thus far, Howden is still very young with possible middle six potential and a change of scenery could be just what he needs.
Brendan Lemieux could be another possible option for the team to slot up several positions. While not being a tremendous scorer, Lemieux adds a layer of grit to the game and has demonstrated that he has no problem dropping the gloves for his teammates. Lemieux is also still very young and has not gotten an opportunity to play an entire NHL season yet, thus with time could potentially transform into more or a prominent player such as Tom Wilson. Set to be a Restricted Free Agent with arbitration rights, Lemieux is expected to receive a minor increase from the $925,000 he accounted for this year. He does bring something to Rangers that they need so trading him could an issue.
In the chance that Henrik Lundqvist remains with the organization, the team could even look to move on from Alexander Georgiev. Georgiev has been phenomenal in his past two years with the organization, however, with him guaranteed to be a back up to Igor Shesterkin, as well as him being a Restricted Free Agent on an already cap tight team, the organization may find it best to move on from him. There are a number of teams, including the Hurricanes and Oilers currently with subpar goaltending and it is highly possible that they would be willing to slot back in the draft in order to work out a package deal for the young goaltender.
Why it Helps
When it comes to being in the first round, having a pick at 12th overall as opposed to in the mid 20’s makes all the difference. While the Rangers should certainly pick the best player available with their first pick, the second should be used to target an area of need. While the Rangers top three centers did perform well this season nothing is for sure.
Mika Zibanejad performed phenomenally this season and is most likely a long term piece for the Rangers so there is nothing to be concerned about. Once you get past him, there are question marks.
Ryan Strome, who had a career year, is due for a new contract and will surely be asking for more than the $3.3 million he made this past season, which surely will not help the Rangers cap situation. Beyond cap reasons, there is concern of him being reliable enough as the team’s second line center going forward, as his line mate Artemi Panarin surely did helped him to his record year.
Filip Chytil, while starting to come into more of his own as a player, is still extremely young and there is question if he can truly handle second line center responsibilities for an entire season, especially given he has not played an entire one yet. Even in the event he does become the team’s future number two center, the team must still continue to add more depth to this position.
Even in the event that Strome stays and both he and Chytil replicate or even exceed their play from this year, the team should still target a center in the draft. There are not many center prospects ready for the NHL in the Rangers prospect pool and of those that are, they appear destined for bottom six roles.
Picking a center in the first half of the draft would allow the team to select one with higher potential and they should be in no rush to add him to the NHL roster, given they do have a couple up and coming prospects such as Morgan Barron waiting at the door for an opportunity.
This year’s draft is said to be the most loaded in recent years and if the Rangers are able to move up in it by unloading some up their current talent, they have a higher chance of picking a talent who could contribute greatly to the organization for years to come.
Related Story. Don't trade that 1st pick. light