The hardship fall of the Rangers of the postseason was still fresh Monday night when they won the NHL draft lottery to soften the blow.
But the team’s top decision makers know they can not afford the luck of leading the No. 1 pick to distract them from the rest of the rebuilding that remains.
“I think we’re in a good place, I really do,” President John Davidson said Tuesday on a Zoom call. ‘I think if you really stop and think about building a franchise to try to win a championship, you have to understand that it’s a slow, mostly, kind of process. You can get lucky like we did, and choose the number 1. That can speed it up, without question. But at the same time you can not advance yourself, it just does not work that way. You start to get yourself ahead, you’ll make some mistakes and then you go backwards, and then you have to start over. ‘
When the ping pong balls gave them the chance to choose the Canadian winger Alexis Lafreniere with the choice no. 1, the Rangers were still looking through the post mortem to get through the Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup qualifier.
The team that had put together an excitement of the second half to get the Rangers in the playoffs – with important steps from their young players and great performances from their stars – was not the only one to take the ice in Toronto . They missed Igor Shesterkin for the first two games, but the losses were not on Henrik Lundqvist, as the Rangers’ offensive missed, scoring just four goals in the three-game series.
A self-described optimist, Davidson wanted to concentrate on the advantage that could go through the series over the young Rangers players, 11 of whom debuted their postseason. It can also show management what was missing, as it thinks about setting up the roster for the future.
“It’s always been a thrilling experience when you get into such a new thing, but you also can’t react,” Davidson said. ‘I think the good part of the season we played, which got better when we went along, showed a lot of great signs. I do not think you can react too much to what happened in Toronto. It was completely abnormal; it was different. And as I said to a number of people who went in there, it was unknown.
‘You have to deepen it, analyze it and then find out positively. That was that whole thing for me. “
Davidson pointed to the strong performances of Brett Howden and Kaapo Kakko as positive, as well as the play of defensive prospect K’Andre Miller during training camp, although he was not eligible to play in Toronto.
Those were just more steps in the rebuilding that began with the organization’s letter to fans in 2018. Two years later, in addition to a solid young core, the Rangers have a supply of prospects and 10 picks in the 2020s. concept – which general manager Jeff Gorton could use to get more pieces to improve his roster, especially with the salary cap remaining flat next season.
But the Rangers will not take any shortcuts in their attempt to get to the top.
“It’s not so much patience, it’s just trying to use your smarts, and having a pure understanding of just how hard it is to win in this league,” said Davidson. “It’s hard. I thought Jeff, and the group with the letter and all that, was very, very good. I think the Ranger fans have been fantastic, having an understanding of that is what the organization will do. We got a great impetus [Monday] night with number one. That we are trending in that direction, but it takes time.
“There will be people who are frustrated with the idea of not moving fast enough. But that’s just the way it is. “
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