Lottery a bust as Blueshirts fall to 9th pick
TORONTO — We don’t know who will be behind the Rangers’ bench next season, but we do know the coach to be named later won’t have the luxury of sending Rasmus Dahlin on to the ice.
“We were hoping to win the lottery, that would have been great, but we always planned on drafting around eighth,” general manager Jeff Gorton told The Post on Saturday night after the Blueshirts slid a spot in the sweepstakes to ninth overall. “We’re pretty confident going to get a good player at nine … if we’re still there.”
Translation: The Rangers, whose organizational meetings commence on May 7, will be aggressive in attempting to trade up to a more favorable position. They also own the Bruins’ and Lightning’s first-round picks that will fall behind 26th and 31st overall, as well as two picks in the second round and a pair in the third.
“We’ll have various conversations leading into the draft,” said Gorton, who a year ago traded into the seven-hole by sending Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta to the Coyotes for that selection and Tony DeAngelo. “There are a number of different scenarios we’ll consider.”
A couple of hours prior to the drawing, Gorton acknowledged cashing in on his team’s 6 percent chance of winning the sweepstakes and thus gaining the opportunity to select the projected franchise defenseman out of Frolunda would have altered the trajectory of the club’s rebuild.
“It would change our course,” the GM said. “It would accelerate things.”
But now, not so fast. The Blueshirts will probably target the Coyotes and Senators, two recent trading part- ners, in an attempt to move up, but the price may be steep. There is a generally acknowledged gap between the top handful of prospects and the next group.
“If we [stay where we are], we’re going to take the guy we feel will eventually be the best player, not necessarily the player who might be the most ready to contribute next year,” Gorton said. “And it won’t be a position-specific pick.”
Gorton revealed little about the search to replace Alain Vigneault. He declined to respond directly when asked whether the team is waiting to interview an individual still under contract and coaching in the playoffs (either in the NHL or AHL) before reaching a decision.
“We’re going to keep this as confidential as possible,” Gorton said. “We’ve talked to a number of people and intend to speak to some more.
“That’s about as far as I want to go on that.”
Gorton said he has made preliminary contact with Jay Grossman, who represents unrestricted free agent winger Ilya Kovalchuk.
“We’ve checked in with him. It’s fair to say that’s something we’re going to look at again further and see what’s going on,” he said.
Kovalchuk, who has spent the past five seasons in the KHL, came off the NHL’s voluntary retired list and thus became a free agent on April 15, his 35th birthday. He is free to negotiate with teams, but cannot sign a contract until July 1.
The Sabres were the big winners in the draft lottery, coming away with the No. 1 pick. The Hurricanes and Canadiens have the second and third picks, respectively. The Islanders came away with the 11th and 12th selections.