Rangers select Lafreniere with No. 1 pick in draft
He becomes the first Canadian togono. 1 since Connor Mcdavid was chosen by Edmonton in 2015.
The New York Rangers selected Canadian forward Alexis Lafreniere with the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft on Tuesday night.
Lafreniere was the NHL Central Scouting Bureau’s top-ranked North American skater. He becomes the first Canadian to go No. 1 since Connor Mcdavid was chosen by Edmonton in 2015.
From suburban Montreal, the 6-foot-1 playmaking left wingwas the first to earn both Canadianhockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey Leaguemvp honors in consecutive seasons since Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby in 2004 and ‘05, whenhe alsoplayed for the Oceanic.
Lafreniere joins a young, developing Rangers team
that features one of his favorite players, Hart Trophy finalist Artemi Panarin. Therangers also have up-and- coming youngsters such as Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick in last year’s
draft, and defenseman Adam Fox, who finished fourth in the rookie of the year voting this season.
New York landed the No. 1 pick for the first time since the NHL established the universal draft in 1969. The Rangers bucked the odds by jumping ahead of the NHL’S seven non-playoff teams to win the draft lottery after being swept in three games by Carolina in the preliminary round in August.
They became the first NHL team to select first following a postseason appearance since the thenMinnesota North Stars in 1983, who acquired the No. 1 selection in a trade with Pittsburgh.