Is this Colin Blackwell’s last day with the New York Rangers? Sure looks it.

Will it be Blackwell?

It may not be the slam dunk for Colin Blackwell that all the pundits believe it will be.  While he had a  fabulous season as a jack-of-all-trades this year, he’s also 28 years old with a history of concussions.   Gauthier is only 23 and has shown speed and an offensive spark in the AHL, though it hasn’t translated to the NHL.

The fact that Ron Francis was GM of the Hurricanes when they drafted Gauthier should not be overlooked and you could argue that he was misused by David Quinn and the Rangers this season.

Also, size matters and Blackwell is 5’9″, 190 pounds compared to Gauthier who is 6’4″, 225 pounds.  That’s a huge difference in a league that values size and speed.

The rest of the draft

When it comes to suspense, the Rangers are the low end of the scale, but there are a lot of fascinating choices for the Kraken.   Here are the top questions going into the draft:

• Will they draft Carey Price?  Surprisingly left exposed, Price is from the Pacific Northwest and his wife is from the Seattle area. He waived his no movement clause specifically for the Kraken.  Will Price become Marc Andre Fleury redux?  Some see the Kraken picking center  Jonathan Drouin or defenseman Brett Kulak.
• Josh Bailey or Jordan Eberle?  That’s the question when it comes to the New York Islanders.  The Fishsticks will lose one of their top forwards, the question is which one. Opinions were evenly split.
• Vladimir Tarasenko or Vince Dunn of the St. Louis Blues?  Tarasenko is expensive, but at the very least the Kraken could pick him in order to trade him.  Dunn is one of the better defensemen on the available list.
• James van Riemsdyk or Jakub Voracek?  Most of the prognosticators have put their money on van Riemsdyk leaving the Flyers.
• The list of players exposed by Tampa includes Yanni Gourde, the popular choice, but also Alex Killorn, Ondrej Palat and Seattle native Tyler Johnson.
• Former Norris Trophy winner Mark Giordano is available, but some had a much younger Oliver Kylington being the player chosen from Calgary.

The best news is that when it comes to the Metropolitan Division, due to the youth of the roster, the Rangers will be one team that will not  lose an important player in the draft.   We’ve talked about the Islanders and Flyers, but there are more assets to lose.  The Hurricanes could lose Nino Niederreiter, the Capitals had to expose blueliners Brenden Dillon and Justin Schultz. Pittsburgh gave up a first round draft pick for Jason Zucker and he is exposed.  Even the Blue Jackets could lose Max Domi.

The same goes for the contenders in the Atlantic Division with each team looking to lose one key player. Before Ranger fans bemoan the loss of Blackwell or Gauthier, it will be important to see what other moves Chris Drury has up his sleeve, moves that could be made before the NHL Entry Draft on Friday.

Even if they make no changes to the roster, if the Rangers do sign Goodrow and Morgan Barron makes the team, either Blackwell or Gauthier would be the 13th forward on the roster.

How to watch the expansion draft

The Seattle expansion draft will be ESPN’s return to hockey and will be televised live on ESPN2 at 8pm EST. ESPN’s Chris Fowler will host along with two former Rangers, Dominic Moore and Kevin Weekes.