The New York Rangers ended up making three picks in the NHL Draft’s first round. How did the team make out? The New York Rangers had a very interesting draft. They seemed to zig when others expected them to zag, especially with their first two picks, but overall, they acquired some solid prospects for their system. As this is being written, the first round of the draft just ended about 20 minutes ago, so these takes and grades in this post are going to be coming-out-of-the-oven hot. When things simmer down by the end of next week, we’ll do this exercise again, but I think it will be interesting to look back on how we felt immediately afterwards in a few years from now. The Rangers currently have six picks to make on Saturday morning, three of which are in the top two rounds. There is still plenty of work to be done, but let’s evaluate how the Rangers did on the draft’s first day.<doc-sep>The day all New York Rangers fans have waited for over the last three months is finally here. Here’s everything you need to know for tonight. It’s here! It’s finally here! Draft day 2018 is upon us and it is time for New York Rangers fans to get excited and anxious. I know for me, I couldn’t sleep last night because I’m so anxious for general manager Jeff Gorton to go speak at the podium. If you’re unfamiliar with the players available in tonight’s first round, check out our site’s NHL Draft rankings. Here are some of the various thoughts I have going through my head right now about tonight’s main event: It sounds if, for now, the Rangers will be selecting a player with all three first round picks. There had been rumors floating around that they’d trade the pick for a younger, NHL ready player but it appears that won’t be the case. He said this may change on the draft floor but he doesn’t foresee anything right now. The Rangers are fully committed to the rebuild they started in February, despite rumors that they are interested in Erik Karlsson and Artemi Panarin. Gorton confirmed this in his pre-draft press conference. “We are going to investigate everything, that is what the job is, that is what we want to do. If there is an opportunity to get a player and the price isn’t too high, we will look at it. For anybody that would be skeptical of a rebuild, all you have to do is look at the last few months and the trade deadline and some of the things we have done. I think it’s pretty obvious we are trying to accumulate young players and assets and trying to get better and give these players opportunity.” This is great to hear. Karlsson and Panarin are great players. With that said, you’d need to give up a boat load of young assets to acquire them which defeats the whole purpose. The Rangers can’t afford to take any shortcuts here on the path to contention. More on the trade front It appears as if a Ranger is traded tonight, it’s going to be Kevin Hayes. Hayes is a nice player, for sure. With that said, the Rangers have six other centers on the roster. If they can leverage him for a right handed top pair defender, then there shouldn’t be a conversation. They should not use him to trade up from nine in the draft, though. It appears that Vlad Namestnikov has very little trade value, so expect him to sign a cheap one or two year prove-it deal with the Rangers. Reports say that the Oilers are looking to trade their 10th pick for a defenseman. Rangers fans are asking on Twitter if they ask the Rangers for Skjei and 28, would it be worth it? Honestly, if Gorton said no, he should be fired. I like Skjei, I really do. I don’t think he’s a top pairing defenseman. At number 10, there will likely be a defender with number one potential. That’s a move you make at this stage of the rebuild, no matter how fond we are of Skjei. At the end of the day, there will be a whole lot more clarity about the path the Rangers are taking going forward. Last year, the team shipped out Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta on draft day afternoon. Maybe they’ll pull an equally shocking deal out of their sleeves this time around.<doc-sep>The Rangers made their first pick of Day Two of the Draft, going off the board and selecting Swedish goaltender Olof Lindbom 39th overall. Lindbom is a 6’1 17 year old goalie that played 20 games in the Swedish SuperElit league, Swedish Major Junior, where he put up a .897 sav% and a 3.10 GAA in 20 games played. For a brief scouting report via Habs Eyes on The Prize: Lindbom shows a solid positioning that got him through the U18 level without a lot of stress. He has technically solid RVH post-integration technique, as expected for a Swedish prospect. He appears pretty solid working behind screens, likely because his anticipation is very good, and he moves quite cleanly and precisely into his spots. He absorbs most rebounds and his puck control is solid, and while his reflexes are good they are not elite. Lindbom moves fluidly and well for his big size. There are a few concerns about Lindbom’s play, however, the main one being that you don’t see a lot of explosive speed. For example; even the awesome save he made against Canada in the U18s is based on an excellent read of the shooter’s move and his ability to control his positioning, rather than a powerful reaction Not the most inspiring pick for the Rangers in the 2nd round especially with some of the names still available at the time. Let’s see how the rest of the Draft plays out<doc-sep>Following a trade to move up from the 26th overall pick and selecting K’Andre Miller, the New York Rangers closed out their first round by selecting Nils Lundkvist. The Rangers rounded out their first round selections with a puck-moving defenseman in Lundkvist, who spent last season with Luleå HF of the Swedish Hockey League. In our scouting report of Lundkvist, Adam, Alex, and Tobias all characterize Lundkvist as a puck-moving defenseman who thrives off of his strong skating ability. Tobias: Lundkvist is a puck moving right-handed defenseman who is a very good skater and has good offensive instincts. That said, his best quality in my eyes though is his hockey IQ; he’s a very smart player both on and off the puck. The way he sees the ice on the offensive side is right at the top of this draft class among his defensive peers, and doing so at his age in the SHL is incredibly impressive. Alex: Lundkvist is a proficient puck-moving defensemen who uses strong wheels and high-end smarts to push the pace in all situations. He lacks the similar flash of fellow Swedish blueliner Adam Boqvist but carries few of the same question marks given his consistently solid play in all three zones and draft-year acumen at the senior level. With the Rangers officially done for the night after making three selections in the first round, they will return tomorrow to make their final six selections to close out the draft.<doc-sep>
The New York Rangers selected Nico Gross in the fourth round with the 101st overall pick. The left handed defenseman is 6’1’’ and 185 pounds. He currently plays for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL. This past season, he scored 14 points in 58 games. Via OHL Prospects: A tough guy for me to rank because I’m admittedly lower on him than some of my scouting counterparts. I absolutely recognize the fact that the things he does well could potentially translate extremely well to the NHL level. I love the physical edge that he plays with in the defensive end, especially with him being average sized at 6’1. He absolutely loves stepping up on attacking forwards at the blueline and his ability to disrupt zone entries with his skating ability and aggressiveness is impressive. He also flashes great skill as a potential puck rusher who has the ability to go end to end and whose impressive mobility helps him gain the opposition’s blueline. But at the end of the day, offensive production is important and his 14 points were only 3 more than William Ennis, who’s a stay at home draft eligible teammate. Lots of flash, but how many prime time scoring chances are really created? Does that point to an inability to create through good vision? Just the same, he can be turnover prone in the defensive end (he struggled mightily at the U18’s with this), which could be linked similarly to his issues at creating once he gains the zone. Defensively, he’s extremely raw. The physicality and mobility are pluses, but he has a tendency to chase the play and can get himself out of position rather easily. So why do I still have Gross at #25? Because I like the raw skill set. As I said, there are definitely things to like. But I would feel a lot more comfortable taking a chance on him in the mid rounds and not the early ones where some scouting agencies seem to have him. Gross is the fifth defenseman the Rangers have drafted so far, along with one winger and one goaltender.