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Olympic medals for the best Rangers draft picks, round by round

By Steve Paulus

Rangers Brian Leetch gets the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP following game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals at Madison Square Garden June 14, 1994. The Rangers won the game 3-2 and the Stanley Cup.Rangers Win Stanley Cup
Rangers Brian Leetch gets the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP following game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals at Madison Square Garden June 14, 1994. The Rangers won the game 3-2 and the Stanley Cup.Rangers Win Stanley Cup /
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13 Feb 1997: Center Sergei Nemchinov of the New York Rangers (right) and St.Louis Blues center Pierre Turgeon move down the ice during a game at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The Blues won the game, 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Stockman /Al
13 Feb 1997: Center Sergei Nemchinov of the New York Rangers (right) and St.Louis Blues center Pierre Turgeon move down the ice during a game at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The Blues won the game, 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Stockman /Al /

Eighth round picks and later

Gold: Sergei Nemchinov (12th round, 1990)

Silver: Kelly Miller (9th round, 1989)

Bronze: Kim Johnsson (11th round, 1994)

Honorable mentions:  Steve Weeks (11th round, 1978),  Kevin Miller (10th round, 1984), Corey Hirsch (8th round, 1991), Eric Boulton (9th round, 1994), Ryan Hollweg (8th round, 2001), Petr Prucha (8th round, 2002).

Sergei Nemchinov gets the gold medal as a 12th round find by the Rangers.  A member of the 1994 Stanley Cup championship team, Nemchinov played 11 years in the NHL, but never replicated his success with the Rangers after they traded him to Vancouver.

Kelly Miller takes the silver as the one who got away, traded to Washington for Bobby Carpenter. He was a fixture for the Capitals for 13 years as a bottom six defensive forward who got Selke Award consideration in six seasons.  His brother Kevin was also drafted by the Rangers five years earlier and made the honorable mentions.

Kim Johnsson was the 286th and last pick in the 1994 draft and he went on to have a long career as a stay-at-home defenseman.

None of the honorable mentions can come close to stealing the bronze medal from Johnsson as none of them played as long or as successfully in the NHL.

Summing up

The gold medalists make up a pretty decent hockey team:

Left wing: Tony Granato
Center: Sergei Nemchinov
Right wing: Tony Amonte
Defense: Brian Leetch
Defense: Sergei Zubov
Goalie: Henrik Lundqvist

Spare Forward: Dominic Moore
Back up goalie: Mike Richter

Still, considering that the Rangers have drafted 545 players since 1963 and only three have made it to the Hall of Fame, that’s not a good track record.

What do you think?

So, do you agree with our medal picks?  Any Gord Smith fans out there?  Should Tom Laidlaw get a medal for his appearance on Survivor? Feel free to weigh in below if you disagree with any of our  selections.

Once you get past the first round, it’s pretty subjective. Also, remember that the medal are awarded for their entire NHL careers, not just what they did for the Rangers.

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