NEW YORK STRANGERS
When it comes to making draft picks, Rangers are routinely late to the party
THE RANGERS have been famously draftaverse lately, trading picks for players in an attempt to win their first Cup since 1994. The team has come close on a couple occasions, so it’s hard to knock the strategy. And the Blueshirts’ Manhattan address makes it easy to sign young free agents such as Jimmy Vesey and Kevin Hayes. As it stands, New York will have just one draft selection in the first 100 picks. At least this year it’s a first-rounder. The team that employs Henrik Lundqvist has been good at drafting netminders, with Adam Huska,
Tyler Wall and Igor Shesterkin all in the pipeline.
IMMEDIATE NEEDS: New York’s defense corps is aging rapidly at the top end, and though the ascent of Brady Skjei has been a boon, the team needs some new blood. Nick Holden has been a nice stop-gap surprise, but he’s already 29.
LONG-TERM NEEDS: The Rangers have some good scorers in their system, but no great scorers. Vesey and Pavel Buchnevich have the most promise, though they’re already playing for the big club. If New York keeps its firstrounder this summer, the brass would do well to find someone with a lot of offensive upside.
CAP SITUATION: Making money in Manhattan isn’t a problem, but staying under that pesky cap is a challenge. The Rangers are $10 million away from the 2017-18 ceiling, with a number of free agents to re-sign. Luckily, none of them is a bank breaker, with RFA center Mika Zibanejad carrying the biggest sticker price. Even there, ‘Z-Bad’ won’t require much more than $3 million. IN THE SYSTEM 2017-18: New York’s excellent depth up front does not bode well for newcomers, and no one in AHL Hartford really stepped up anyway. Perhaps Nicklas Jensen or Adam Tambellini gets a crack at the roster, but neither should be expected to make a big impact. DID YOU KNOW: Defenseman Vince Pedrie, recently signed as a free agent out of Penn State, becomes the first alum of the Bloomington Thunder to join an NHL organization. That team joined the USHL in 2014-15.