Last night was the happiest I’ve been since 2014 when the New York Rangers made the Stanley Cup Final. If you were watching the draft lottery and heard ruffled screaming when they announced the Sabres drafting at number 7, that was Ked and his old man screaming at the top of their lungs millions of miles away.
Why is this big for the Rangers? The New York Rangers, for the first time the expansion era are picking in the top 3 and have a chance of getting a legitimate franchise, corner stone type player.
So who will they pick?
Enter Kappo mother fucking Kakko.
I don’t see the Devils passing on Jack Hughes and if they do then I’d welcome him with open arms. The kid is the real deal and will be a son of a bitch to play against for years to come. The “consolation prize”, if thats what you want to call it, is a stud from Finland who will undoubtedly RIP UP NYC. Last night Steve Valiquette broke down his game on Knicks post game (lol) and used the named Aleksander Barkov as a comparison.
Not only will it be awesome to get one of these two players but it speeds up the Rangers rebuild process. With names like Kravtsov, Chytil, Andersson, Miller, and Lindqvist in the pipeline, the Rangers are going to have super young first round picks just waiting to play some NHL games. They will have a battle between Russian goalies to serve as predecessor to the King. The Rangers also have the potential of having 2 extra first round picks in this draft (Go Lightning, Go Stars) and have been linked to impending free agents Artemi Panarin and Erik Karlsson.
I was aware the rebuild process was suck. I like winning. I don’t like going to tankathon.com and simulating 100 times. I like teams that win games. Good news for me is that the Rangers are in a WAY better position this morning then they were yesterday.
OH! Before I forget, I love Jeff Gorton. He has pretty much everything right ever since he came in, including his good luck charm.
Goosebumps.
The Morning Skate 