New York Rangers: Jeff Gorton’s top priorities #6-10

#8  The rest of the draft

While all of the attention has been on the first overall pick the Rangers won in the draft lottery, they still have a total of 10 draft picks to be made on October 6-7, including the 22nd overall pick in the first round.  That second first rounder is a trading chip that Jeff Gorton may want to use, but in a deep draft and as cheap prospects are very valuable in a flat cap era, he will probably try to hold on to the pick.

While Gorton will be relying on the expertise of Gordie Clark and his scouting staff, all NHL teams will be going into this draft with the least firsthand information about the players they will be drafting.

This will be the toughest draft in NHL history when it comes to gauging talent.  Any evaluation has been done via videos or word of mouth since none of the draft eligible players have played since March.  There was no draft combine, no summer showcases and no opportunities to conduct a gut check when it comes to potential picks.

What this means is there will be more late draft sleepers and more hits and misses than ever before.  Don’t forget that no one knew this was coming so the entire scouting community was unable to see any players firsthand after the pandemic hit.   Traditionally, scouts wait until late in the draft season to finalize their opinions.  Not this year.

Don’t be surprised if a European player drafted in the sixth or seventh round pick, solely on the basis of a few YouTube videos and email recommendations from hockey mavens turns into the next version of Artemi Panarin.   It could happen.

In the ten years from 2008 to 2017 the Rangers drafted a total of 62 players.  25 of those players have appeared in an NHL game, 18 with the Rangers.   Of the 18 players who made it to the Rangers, 11 played more than 30 games with the team and 18 are still in the Rangers organization.  It will be fascinating to see if they do better with the draft this year with less preparation than ever.