New York Rangers should not trade the first pick!

The New York Rangers are slated to pick first overall at the upcoming 2020 NHL Draft.

Once the initial excitement subsided in Rangerstown, the conversation of what to do with the first overall pick began. Some people believe that the New York Rangers should draft Quinton Byfield because of their lack of center depth in the organization. Others believe they should negotiate a trade with Ottawa for the third and fifth selections, or better yet, try and swing a trade for an established NHL center.

It may seem like a complex situation, a sentiment that stems from the Rangers long hiatus from atop the draft board, a spot they last saw themselves in at the 1965 NHL Draft. The only decision General Manager Jeff Gorton should be contemplating regarding this first overall selection is what he will say when he gets to the microphone to announce the Rangers have selected Alexis Lafreniere.

The Blueshirts should not be entertaining offers for the first overall selection. They should keep the pick and use it to select the NHL ready Lafreniere from the QMJHL. Now I am not obtuse; I understand Gorton will do his due diligence and listen to teams’ proposals for the first pick, weighing the options up until the selection is made. But in the end, the Rangers need to select first overall, and Lafreniere should be donning a Blueshirt.

No team has traded the first overall pick since 2003, when the Florida Panthers traded with the Pittsburgh Penguins.  That’s a trend New York should keep intact. When picking in the first round, filling a teams’ needs tends to become less essential than drafting the best available overall talent.

The Panthers traded the first pick because they consensus pick was Marc-Andre Fleury and they already had Roberto Luongo in goal.  They got the third overall pick from Pittsburgh, along with a second round pick and forward Mikael Samuelsson, sending the Penguins the first round and a third round pick.  They ended up drafting forward Nathan Horton who had a decent NHL career while Fleury went on to win three Stanley Cups with the Pens.

Yes, the Rangers need to improve their center depth, but jumping to make that improvement this year will do more harm than good. The Rangers still are in the midst of a rebuild, despite it being ahead of schedule, and need to allow their younger players the opportunity to fill the roles which remain vacated. By drafting Lafreniere, you officially solidify the wing position, allowing the Rangers to pursue center depth once Marc Staal, Brendan Smith and Henrik Lundqvist’s contracts officially come off the books.

What route should New York take?

The Rangers have the luxury of picking twice in this loaded first round, with their second selection falling within the 20-24 range if the Carolina Hurricanes fall to the Boston Bruins this round. The Blueshirts could move that pick in exchange for a center or depth forwards, or utilize it and select another quality player for their prospect pool.

Teams who are looking to add Entry  Level Contracts (ELC’s) instead of signing rostered players during this cap crunch may be willing to part ways with NHL-talent in exchange for that first-round pick.

Drafting Lafreniere reduces the importance of the second first round pick for New York, making it an intriguing asset for Gorton to utilize. Obviously, this situation is a dynamic one, but Gorton can attack the end of the first round free and easy after drafting Lafreniere first overall.

Justifying the passing on Lafreniere  would be extremely difficult for the Rangers brass unless they complete the perfect trade, something that is rather hard to accomplish. Instead, John Davidson and Jeff Gorton should keep the first pick and tell those who are making offers that selection one is not available.

Lafreniere posted 35 goals and 77 assists for Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL, and the ultra-talented forward proved his skill set translated to the world stage, racking up 10 points en-route to selection as the MVP at the World Junior Championships.  It is not often that a talent like Lafreniere is available to your franchise, especially at the cap hit  of an ELC, and New York should not pass up this opportunity.

At the end of the day, I believe in Gorton and Davidson will do the right thing, which is to keep the first pick and use it to select the Canadian forward.