Copp ‘sorry’ for lost pick

Following the Rangers’ Game 7 victory over the Hurricanes in the second-round playoff series, team president and general manager Chris Drury made his way to the locker room. When he ran into Andrew Copp, who had been acquired at the trade deadline, Drury received an apology.

“Sorry about your first,” Drury recalled Copp telling him — referencing the conditional draft pick the Rangers sent to Winnipeg, which became a first-round pick once Copp played in more than 50 percent of the team’s games and the Rangers reached the Eastern Conference Final.

Given what Copp has brought to the Rangers, and given that they have made it to the conference final for the first time in seven seasons, Drury likely could not care less about losing his firstround selection.

Drury, promoted to run things after John Davidson and Jeff Gorton were dismissed at the end of last season, has his fingerprints all over this Rangers roster. Knowing the team needed to get tougher and more battletested, he brought in Barclay Goodrow, Ryan Reaves and Sammy Blais during the offseason. Knowing it needed more firepower and depth, he made trade-deadline deals for Copp, Frank Vatrano, Tyler Motte and Justin Braun.

With the exception of Blais, who has missed most of the season with a torn ACL, each of those players has had a hand in the Rangers’ success. As does head coach Gerard Gallant, whom Drury hired to replace David Quinn.

As the Rangers prepared to face the Lightning on Wednesday in Game 1 of the East final, Drury said the goal in October was to get into the playoffs. From there, he reasoned, anything could happen. Now, the Rangers are just four wins away from the Stanley Cup Final.