LOTTO FEVER
Rangers, Isles fighting odds for shot at franchise changer
TORONTO — Fifty-two years ago, when the NHL draft was in its infancy and most prospects had otherwise been assigned within the Original Six, the Rangers selected Brad Park with the second overall pick in 1966 after the Bruins tabbed defenseman Barry Gibbs.
That represents the last time the Blueshirts had a top-three pick. Other than the 1-year-old Vegas operation, the Rangers are the only NHL team in the past half-century not to go one, two or three in the annual amateur meat market.
Odds are against that changing Saturday in the club’s first visit to Lotteryland, for in finishing with the eighth-worst record in the league, the Blueshirts have a 19 percent chance of moving up into the top three.
Moreover, and perhaps more to the point as concerns the organization that is in desperate need of a franchise player to build around, the Rangers have a 6 percent chance of coming away with the first-overall selection that would translate into projected can’t-miss Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.
Then again, every one of the 15 clubs in this drawing is in desperate need of this potentially transformational athlete. That includes the 31st-overall Sabres (18.5 percent chance), who had the league’s worst record in 2014-15 but tumbled to second in the lottery behind Edmonton and thus lost Connor McDavid while coming away with door prize Jack Eichel. The Sabres finished last overall the year before that, too, and after sliding to second behind Florida (Aaron Ekblad), chose Sam Bennett.
The Rangers have been reliable winners in late April for most of this decade. Winning this, though, would perhaps represent their most significant historical victory of the calendar month since April 13, 1940, when Bryan Hextall Sr.’s Game 6 overtime goal of the finals against the Maple Leafs in Toronto clinched the Blueshirts’ third Stanley Cup in a 13-year stretch.
Getting Dahlin, who has been likened to Erik Karlsson, would dramatically alter the trajectory of the rebuilding on which the Rangers are embarking after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2010 and subsequently firing Alain Vigneault as coach. The Frolunda defenseman, who turned 18 on April 13, would become a linchpin of the next generation and allow management to ponder an accelerated program.
Again. Odds are against it. But the Devils last year came from the five-hole to gain the first-overall pick they used on Nico Hischier. The Flyers moved from 13th to second while the Stars moved from eighth to third in the revamped three-tiered drawing meant to discourage tanking. The Avalanche, who finished with the worst record in the league in 2016-17, selected fourth overall.
Moving into the two- or threehole would allow the Blueshirts to choose among a group that would include Russian-born, OHL Barrie winger Andre Svechnikov; QMJHL Halifax winger Filip Zadina; and BU winger Brady Tkachuk, whose ranking has risen steadily over the past couple of months.
The Islanders also have a 6 percent chance to land Dahlin, owning both their own pick by merit of finishing 10th from the bottom (3.5) and Calgary’s (12th-worst, 2.5) by virtue of the trade in which Travis Hamonic went to the Flames. If the Islanders, who have a combined 19.6 percent chance of moving into the top three, come away with Dahlin on the Flames’ dime, Garth Snow might land a lifetime contract as general manager. But wait, he already owns that, no? We digress. The NHL, CBC and NBCSN are pumping this lottery for ratings with a two-part drawing reveal. Picks 4 through 15 will be announced during the pregame show of the Golden Knights-Sharks Game 2 telecast. The top three picks will be unveiled during the second intermission. General manager Jeff Gorton is representing the Rangers while assistant GM Chris Lamoriello is representing the Islanders.
Fifty-two years after Park, Gorton would be happy to endure a long night in the TV studio. Nine years after John Tavares, so would Lamoriello.