Rangers Tonight

Alright, tonight the Rangers are going to get a great player at #2.  Either Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko or American center Jack Hughes.  Whichever they get will immediately transform their future as well as push their prospect lists into the stratosphere.  That said, with tradeable assets, I think it's important that if they get Kaapo at 2, they are able to trade back into the first round and get a high upside C.  By the same token, if the Rangers get Hughes, they need to trade back in for a high impact winger.

A lot of drafts have blue chip and red chip areas, with blue meaning big tools and production and reds being guys with correctable flaws but nice upside. Tonight's NHL draft features two super blue chippers, and then sort of a level of purple chips, like Turcotte, Zegras, Cozens, Caufield, Byram, Newhook, Podkolzin, and a few others.  They all have carrying tools and elite pedigrees, and few questions.

Before the Rangers traded for Trouba, they were sitting at 2 and 20, and probably had a chance to catch a falling star with a move up from 20 or just sitting still and taking Tomasino or Seider.  Who are sort of at the end of the purple area.

But if the Rangers do take Kakko, they really need to move Kreider or Kreider plus for one of those centers.

On the slight chance they get Hughes, they should jump in and get him a winger.

We'll see what happens.