Oh-for-three-and-out, the Rangers are still looking for the first win of August in franchise history. Coming up with the first-overall selection in the 2020 entry draft by winning Monday’s lottery would deserve an advantageous time to do so.
It is the 12.5 percent solution for the losers of the qualifying match in the ongoing Stanley Cup tournament, each with the same chance at one-eight to claim the first-overall selection and top-ranked winger Alexis Lafreniere of QMJHL’s Rimouski.
The Rangers, who have not had the first choice in the draft since 1965, will choose first, 10th or 11th. If they win the lottery, they choose first. If Winnipeg wins as Minnesota, the Blueshirts will go 10th. If one of the other five entrants – Pittsburgh, the loser of the decisive Game 5 of Columbus-Toronto on Sunday, Florida, Edmonton and Nashville – wins, the Rangers will select 11th.
There will be a good player available for the Blueshirts, who finished 18th overall in the standings, though, unless it’s Lafreniere, the selection is extremely unlikely to make the NHL next season. Patience is critical here for management.
In the 10-11 range, candidates would include Wisconsin sophomore center Dylan Holloway, OHL right-wing Jack Quinn, WHL Portland ahead of Seth Jarvis, Finnish center Anton Lundell, and, if he has to slip, OHL Saginaw center Cole Perfetti. This is not an all-inclusive list. It seems unlikely that the team would select a defender.
The Blueshirts, who have used five of their six first-round picks on Europeans the last three drafts, will also receive the later first-round pick from Carolina or Toronto. That pick will likely be between 20 and 31. If you have a few picks, the Rangers can examine bundles and go up.
The last time the Rangers entered a lottery with at least an equal chance to claim the first overall pick was in 2005, when the NHL followed a weighted 30-team bet after the canceled 2004-05 season.
The Blueshirts, Penguins, Sabers and Blue Jackets each had a 6.3 percent chance of winning, based on having made the playoffs the previous three years without a first-overall selection.
The Penguins won the lottery and selected Sidney Crosby, while the Rangers somehow won in the 16th slot. But the Blueshirts pulled off a deal with the then-Thrashers to go to 12, where they selected Marc Staal.
The concept will be celebrated between the end of the cup final and the start of free agency. It is tentatively planned for October 6th.
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