New York Rangers: What to look for on day 2 of the NHL Entry Draft

The first round of the NHL Entry Draft is over and the New York Rangers seem mighty pleased with their selection of winger Brennan Othmann.   Although many anticipated a deal to be made, Chris Drury stood pat and kept the pick. He explained that they were looking to make a trade, but never got “close.”

The second through seventh rounds of the draft begins at 11am, televised live on the NHL Network.  The Rangers have two picks in the third round, three in the fourth round and one each in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.   How the COVID-19 pandemic will affect the assessment of talent remains to be seen, but most agree that the later rounds in the draft will be an absolute crapshoot.

The Canadian junior leagues schedules were very limited with the OHL not playing any games.  Travel was  limited so most scouting reports are based on video, live streams and local knowledge.  This year, more than any other year, late round picks could turn into gems or absolute washouts.

If you want to read about what Drury and Othmann had to say after the first round had concluded, click here.

For a full analysis of the Othmann pick and to see what experts had to say about him before the draft, click here.

Instant analysis

There are numerous assessments of the first round picks.  Here is what the reaction was to the Rangers’ selection of Brennan Othmann.

NHL.com provided this assessment:  “Othmann’s skill and skating impressed during his play in Switzerland, and he carried that into strong play at the U-18 Worlds. The Rangers have a number of talented young forwards, topped by Alexis Lafreniere, the No. 1 pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, and Othmann’s hard-nosed play and strong forechecking would give them more open ice to work with.”

Greg Wyshynski of ESPN highlighted the fact that Othmann may be more NHL-ready than other picks:   “Not the best forward available here — that honor probably goes to Chaz Lucius, Fabian Lysell or Fedor Svechkov — but Othmann fits a particular need for the Rangers. He plays with speed, loves to get on the forecheck and was an impressive member of the Canadian World Junior team this season. He played professionally in the Swiss League, too. He could be a little closer to making an NHL impact than some of the other forwards in the first round, which is good for a Rangers team that’s just about ready to turn the corner to contention.”

Mary Clarke of USA Today gave the Rangers a B grade for their pick:   “Brennan Othmann is a high-speed, high-intensity hockey player. While he might not score in buckets, Othmann still has a great shot and also does well with puck protection too. A nice, well-rounded forward for the Rangers system.”

Josh Bell of FCHockey provided the analysis for The Sporting News:  “The Rangers selected forward Othmann, a powerful winger with one of the best shots in the draft. He gets so much power behind his shot and is remarkably accurate with it. He is constantly pushing the play, driving the game forward and making an impact. He never takes his foot off the gas. Despite being a goal scorer, he also plays a hard game and is not afraid to throw his body around or battle hard. He should fit in well with the young core in New York.”

Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (subscription required) was a little less optimistic about the pick. He placed the pick in the “overtime loser” category meaning that he felt the team could have done better, but may end up happy with the pick in the long run:  “I thought this might be the point in the draft where Lucius was finally picked. The Rangers have bigger holes at center than at wing, and Lucius is a natural pivot. But even if the play was to target a goal-scorer, Lucius is a cut above Othmann there. Othmann’s a natural finisher who plays a finesse game off the flanks and grades near the top of the draft in some of the same areas Lucius does, but his ceiling in all of those areas just feels a smidge below. This was more or less the range Othmann was expected to go, though, so I don’t hate it. He’s a good player and really interesting kid.”

Draft notes

Nine first round picks changed hands on Friday with three deals involving first round picks taking place during the draft.  Nashville got a first round pick from Carolina in exchange for two second round picks. The Minnesota Wild gave Edmonton a third round pick in order to move from 22nd to 20th overall, swapping picks with the Oilers.

In the one deal that possibly affected the Rangers, the Detroit Red Wings gave Dallas the 23rd overall pick along with second and fifth round picks to move up to 15th overall. They then drafted goalie Sebastian Cossa one pick before the Rangers.  They obviously had some intelligence that the Rangers  or one of the teams picking from 16th through 22nd were going to pick Cossa and they wanted him badly enough to give up three picks.

While Brennan Othmann was taken by the Rangers before most experts had him ranked before the draft, there were some absolute off-the-board picks. Tyler Boucher was picked 10th overall by Ottawa when his highest pre-draft ranking was 36th and some didn’t even have him in the top 50.

Another unexpected pick was right winger Chase Stillman, selected 29th overall by the Devils. TSN’s Bob McKenzie had him ranked the highest at 49th overall while The Athletic and Hockey News had him at 65th.

The shocker of the draft was Montreal’s choice of defenseman Logan Mailloux.  He had asked that his name be taken out of consideration for the draft after he was convicted for a sexual offense while he was playing in Sweden.  He had posted a picture on social media of a consensual sex act without the woman’s consent. She went to the Swedish police and he was convicted and fined for the offense. The belief was that no team would take him in the draft so when the Habs took him in the first round, the reaction was uniformly negative.

On a positive note, with four Michigan Wolverines taken among the first five picks in the draft, that has to be good for Rangers prospect Eric Ciccolini.  Ciccolini was a seventh round pick by the Rangers in the 2019 draft and has played two seasons for Michigan and in June was named the most improved player on the team.  The right winger can only benefit from playing with Owen Power (Buffalo), Matty Beniers (Seattle) , Luke Hughes (Devils)  and Kent Johnson (Columbus) , all taken in the first five picks of the draft.  Not only that, Mackie Samoskevich, another Wolverine, was taken 24th overall by Florida.   Beniers, Johnson and Samoskevich are all centers so Ciccolini will be playing with some very talented pivots this season.

Blue Line Station will provide full coverage of the NHL Entry Draft rounds two through seven.