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New York Rangers: Jeff Gorton’s top priorities #1-5

By Steve Paulus

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 21: (L-R) John Davidson and Jeff Gorton of the New York Rangers attends the 2019 NHL Draft at the Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 21: (L-R) John Davidson and Jeff Gorton of the New York Rangers attends the 2019 NHL Draft at the Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Ryan Lindgren #55 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Ryan Lindgren #55 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

#4 Finding toughness

After being swept by Carolina, Jeff Gorton made his mission statement clear, the New York Rangers need to be harder to play against.  The question facing him is whether those kind of players are on his current roster.

Brendan Lemieux, Jacob Trouba and Ryan Lindgren are players other teams hate to see.  Unfortunately, after that trio, the list shrinks.  Jesper Fast qualifies, but he is an Unrestricted Free Agent and may be unaffordable.   The prospect pool is not replete with those kind of players and no one will be ready to take on that role next season.

Can 6’4″, 227 pound Julien Gauthier use that big body to be the physical player the team needs? Is there a keeper among Morgan Barron, Justin Richards, Austin Rueschhoff or Patrick Khodorenko?  If there is one reason that the team may keep that first pick and draft Alexis Lafreniere is his reputation as that kind of player.

Also, there hasn’t been much talk about this, but who will take the role of designated tough guy?   After two years of Cody McLeod and Micheal Haley, who will Gorton find to fill that role?  It would be nice to find someone who could score more than one goal per season.

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