First and foremost, let’s get this out of the way: selecting Alexis Lafreniere first overall was a no-brainer. That was the easy part for the Rangers.
Should the 18-year-old left wing reach his full potential as a generational talent, the Blueshirts will make a huge leap toward Stanley Cup contention. Add Lafreniere to the already brimming firepower of Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Adam Fox, Pavel Buchnevich, Jacob Trouba, and Kaapo Kakko – and the Rangers are in excellent shape. That’s without even mentioning promising goaltender Igor Shesterkin and the possibility of retaining restricted/unrestricted free agents Tony DeAngelo, Ryan Strome, Jesper Fast, and Brendan Lemieux.
You already know the story on Lafreniere. Let’s dig deeper by examining the rest of the Rangers’ 2020 draft class.
The Rangers surprised some by moving up to 19th overall to select defenseman Braden Schneider, spoiling the rival Devils’ plans to draft the 6-foot-2 blueliner.
A fist pump celebration from team president John Davidson summed up how excited the Blueshirts’ brass was to add a shutdown man with some offensive shine.
Yet, the pick wasn’t universally hailed by The Garden Faithful, as center depth is a weak spot for the Rangers. Time will tell whether the Blueshirts will regret passing on a young pivot at that stage of the draft. Centers Hendrix Lapierre, Connor Zary, Brendan Brisson, Mavrik Bourque, and Ridly Greig were selected between picks 22 and 30.
Then, there’s the matter of long-term fit. Something’s got to give with Fox, Trouba, and DeAngelo currently manning the right side and fellow right-handers Nils Lundkvist and Schneider poised to eventually figure into David Quinn’s plans.
With their next pick at 60th overall, the Rangers drafted physical wing William Cuylle. The 6-foot-3 forward brings an interesting combination of a net-front presence, a heavy shot, and energetic play. But, after Lafreniere, the Rangers appeared to make consecutive “safe” picks in Schneider and Cuylle, as opposed to betting on the youths with the greatest skill and largest upside.
At pick No. 92, the Blueshirts addressed the aforementioned center need by selecting Swedish center Oliver Tarnstrom. Comfortable with the puck, and blessed with shiftiness and creativity, this 18-year-old sounds like an interesting project.
The Rangers restocked their goaltending depth by selecting Dylan Garand at 103rd overall. Typically, the Blueshirts excel at identifying and developing young netminders. Those who watched Garand closely in the WHL have pointed to consistency being his biggest issue, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the Rangers harness his full potential and goaltending coach Benoit Allaire maximizes his athletic style of play.
Round five saw the Rangers grab a pair of forwards in Evan Vierling and Brett Berard. If earlier picks could be considered “safe,” these two selections were made with the idea of betting on skill in the later rounds. Both Vierling and Berard are somewhat undersized, but both are blessed with the potential upside to be “home run” picks.
The Rangers closed out the 2020 NHL Draft by selecting center Matt Rempe and goaltender Hugo Ollas in the sixth and seventh rounds, respectively. Rempe is an enormous 6-foot-8 and 235 pounds, and while he isn’t known to be particularly flashy, he has received praise for his work habits. Ollas is also 6-foot-8 and was rated by NHL Central Scouting as the seventh-ranked European goaltender.
In all, the Rangers appeared to make good use of their later round picks. It was a strong two days of drafting for Jeff Gorton, Gordie Clark, Davidson and company.
Follow Sean Hartnett on Twitter: @HartnettHockey
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