Monday night was the opportunity for 15 teams to turn Tuesday into “Wait Until Next Year” day.
“The teams that are participating tonight didn’t succeed in the qualifying round for the playoffs, which under a normal year would have been the equivalent of not making the [Stanley Cup Playoffs], they would have been eligible for the lottery,” Commissioner Gary Bettman told NHL Network. “Our competitive balance is so extraordinary the differences between and among our clubs isn’t all that great.
“So under these unusual circumstances, this made the most sense and was fair, despite who you root for and what result [it] ultimately obtains.”
The opportunity to breathe new life into an old, tired roster.
The opportunity to need a chaperon before going to a decent restaurant on the road.
The former might be said of the Los Angeles Kings and the latter about the New York Rangers.
The Kings ended up with the second pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft.
The Rangers stepped in something on the street on their way into the lottery room, they won race for the number one pick?
“Anytime you can pick first, especially this year, it’s a special year, we all know that,” Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton said. “It was tough up in the bubble (in Toronto, the Eastern Conference hub city). Those three games, Carolina gave it to us pretty good, but surely excited to have this happen to us tonight.”
Last year, New York picked second and selected Kaapo Kakko who ice the regular season and qualifying round for the team.
So much is expected on high draft picks. It seems unfair to put an entire franchise on skater’s shoulders and, not ask, but command them to carry a franchise to the promised land.
All one has to do is look to the Edmonton Oilers where a once-in– generation player with a few years under his garters has been unable to do just that.
The Oilers have been selecting high for what seems like a generation and have ended up in familiar confines, outside the playoffs.
After being swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in the qualifying round last week, the Rangers looked unprepared and juvenile in the readiness to face the big stage.
President of the club, John Davidson had said earlier that tinkering was on the agenda for next season. One has to hope that tinkering means jettisoning unworkable chaff.
“I feel like things are coming together, there’s a lot of work left to be done, don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but I think it’s a good night for Rangers fans,” Gorton said. “It’s never happened before for the Rangers, the first time ever picking first. That’s a long time.”
The prohibitive favorite for the number one pick this year is Alexis Lafreniere, 18, who iced for Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
He was the top player in the NHL Central Scouting’s ranking of North American skaters.
The NHL paid the dime to dance in the lottery room, and now the team and player will need to find a tune.
Image courtesy of Rimouski Oceanic
“Really good news; the Rangers are an unreal team with really good players,” the left wing said. “Really nice city, so for sure, it’s really good news and I’m really happy.”
Lafreniere led the QMJHL in scoring and won the won the Jean Beliveau Trophy with 112 points on 35 goals.
“It really is exciting,” Lafreniere said in an interview after the selection process. “Like you said, Panarin is one of the best players in the League, and Zibanejad and guys like that, they’re a really good team, and I think they’re going to have a lot of success in the next couple of years. For sure, it’s pretty fun.”
The date of the relationship will be forthcoming as the Rangers did not have talks with the prospect ahead of the lottery.
“I didn’t want to waste his time,” the GM said. “So we’ll go through that process and we’ll start to meet the young man and go down the road of talking to him and his family and doing all that. Let’s get through that first. For tonight, let’s let the Rangers fans be happy about winning the lottery.”
Lafreniere has international experience and was named most valuable player in the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship; he collected 10 points in five games on four goals.
Wait until next year is here for the New York Rangers. The weight of a franchise ought to be distributed across, what looks like on paper, to be a talented roster. But someone needs to coach a bench brimming with potential energy and produce the kinetic energy needed.
Or the Rangers will become the Edmonton Oilers of the Eastern Conference.
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