NEW YORK – The New York Rangers returned to the post season for the 11th time in 12 years (did not qualify in 08/09) but fell short to the Ottawa Senators in six games. While many analysts expected New York to take a major dive to start the season after not addressing their blue line, the Blueshirts managed to finish fourth in the Metropolitan division and ninth in the league with a respectable 102 points.
All the talk going into the 2016-17 was about how newly assigned General Manager Jeff Gorton would get the once Stanley Cup favorites back to their elite contending status. His big splash would happen on July 18th, 2016 when he traded fan favorite Derick Brassard and a sixth round pick to the Ottawa Senators for the promising Mika Zibanejad and a second round pick.
Recently the Rangers have been known for their ability to kill you with their speed and the Rangers first overall pick Kailer Yamamoto has that in spades. Listed at just 5’8’’ (depending on where you look) the 18-year old Washington native has put up tremendous numbers in his past couple of seasons.
Though the Rangers seem to have a clogged pipeline of forwards, the option of picking over Yamamoto simply wasn’t an option for Gorton.
Last year in the WHL with the Spokane Chiefs, Yamamoto put up 42-57-99 in 65 games (that’s 1.5 ppg for those keeping score at home). During his time with the U18 USA National team at the World Junior Championships he put up 7-6-13 in seven games.
He may be undersized but clearly that doesn’t impact his play. For a team whose best player is arguably 5’7’’ Mats Zuccarello, drafting Yamamoto wasn’t a gamble, it was brilliant.
lastwordonhockey.com reports that he “can make quick dekes in very tight spaces, helping him to beat defenders as well as goaltenders”. Like Zuccarello, “he has tremendous vision, and once an opening presents itself, he has the skill necessary feather a tape-to-tape pass to a teammate”.
The blueline is something the Rangers absolutely need to get fixed, but with the buyout of Dan Girardi and the possibility of Kevin Klein retiring (giving up his 3M next year that the Rangers would retain) it’s very possible that there is room to resign newly acquired Brendan Smith and add a player such as Kevin Shattenkirk or trade for Jakub Trouba, making the decision to pick Yamamoto much easier.
Time will tell how the Rangers 21st overall pick will pan out, but for now it’s a very promising pick with nothing but potential.
With the 21st pick in 2017 NHL Entry Draft, the New York Rangers select forward Kailer Yamamoto of the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League.
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