NASHVILLE — The center position has been an organizational black hole for the Rangers at least since Lias Andersson and Brett Howden either failed to meet expectations or were not awarded a broad enough opportunity to do so.
For the purposes of this conversation, the reasons why are immaterial.
Following the 2016 first-round battering by the Penguins and the 2017 second-round elimination by the Senators, general manager Jeff Gorton had recognized the need to turn over the position. The time of 1A and 1B had run its course.
Derick Brassard (1B) was the first to go, sent to Ottawa in the summer of ’16 for Mika Zibanejad in a deal that has become one of the greatest in franchise history.
Derek Stepan (1A) went a year later in a trade with Arizona that yielded the seventh-overall pick in the 2017 draft, with which the Blueshirts selected Andersson.
The fact is that at the end of 2017-18, the Rangers had Andersson, Howden and Filip Chytil stacked down the middle as young prospects behind Zibanejad (and Kevin Hayes, who would be traded at the 2019 deadline) after selecting Andersson and Chytil (21st overall) in the 2017 draft and acquiring Howden in a 2018 deadline deal with Tampa Bay in which Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller went the other way.
Alas and alack, only Chytil remains.
Zibanejad and 2022 free-agent signee Vincent Trocheck are in place at the top, but there is little in the middle beyond that within the organization.
Maybe Adam Sykora, last year’s second-rounder, can be included, but he more likely is a winger. Maybe Bryce McConnell Harper, last year’s third-rounder, could be counted, but he just turned 19 at the beginning of the month.
So, if the Rangers have the opportunity to bolster the organizational stockpile down the middle during this week’s draft, which will be conducted on Wednesday (first round) and Thursday (the rest of it) in Nashville, GM Chris Drury and his team should assuredly do so.
But…center is not the position that should be the priority for the personnel department.
Again, let’s review.
In the days before the 2020-21 season commenced, the Rangers seemed flush with prospects on the right side of the blue line. There was Jacob Trouba, Adam Fox and Tony DeAngelo on the varsity, 2018-first rounder Nils Lundkvist in the queue and Braden Schneider having been selected 19th overall (instead of a center) in the 2020 draft.
In the interim, DeAngelo was excised from the organization soon after the season commenced. Lundkvist, who’d gotten a decent look the first few months of 2021-22, was traded per his request/demand last year.
For a time, there was some duplication back there with Fox, DeAngelo and Lundkvist. There was some strength in numbers.
Now the club is unprotected against injury on that side.
There is no one below other than Zac Jones, who is a lefty and is expected to compete for a lineup spot on his natural side.
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Replenishing the right side should be of some urgency for the hierarchy.
That’s not to suggest the left side can be ignored. Libor Hajek is no longer a prospect and, as a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, most likely will not be qualified. Matt Robertson, so highly regarded following his 49th-overall selection in 2019, seems to have regressed.
It appears the Rangers’ reserve on the blue line is Jones and Jones alone at this moment. If K’Andre Miller somehow gets away via a Group II free agent offer sheet, the blue line will resemble a five-alarm fire.
Replenishing the pipeline on defense must be addressed in Nashville as even more of a priority than the middle.
Look on the bright side
Yes, the organization’s draft record is, uh, er, umm, spotty at best. You can make a night of it, maybe even a weekend, by playing the parlor game of “Which One Was Worse?”
But we are going to accentuate the positive. And so, here is the ranking of the Rangers’ best selections, round by round, since the universal draft’s inaugural year in 1971.
12th Round: 1. Sergei Nemchinov, No. 244 overall in 1990, who became an integral part of the 1994 Cup champions; 2. Rudy Poeschek, No. 238 in 1985.
11th Round: 1. Kim Johnsson, No. 286 (and last) overall in 1994, who had two impressive seasons for the Blueshirts before being traded to the Flyers in the trade for Eric Lindros.
10th Round: 1. Kevin Miller, No. 202 in 1984; 2. Vladimir Vorobiev, No. 240 in 1992, who once had four points (1-3) in a game for the Blueshirts against the Oilers on Jan. 21, 1997, while playing on Mark Messier’s line.
9th Round: 1. Kelly Miller, No. 183 in 1982, a popular and effective blue-collar guy before being included in the fateful deal (with Mike Ridley) for Bobby Carpenter on New Year’s Day 1987.
8th Round: 1. Petr Prucha, No. 240 in 2002; 2. Ryan Hollweg, No. 238 in 2001; 3. Johan Witehall, No. 207 in 1998; 4. Lance Nethery, No. 121 in 1977, out of Cornell as one of five U.S. collegians selected by the Blueshirts that day.
7th Round: 1. Henrik Lundqvist, No. 205 in 2000, 137 picks after the pending Hall of Famer’s twin brother, Joel, was selected by Dallas; 2. Todd Marchant, No. 164 in 1993, who compiled an exemplary NHL career after being traded to Edmonton at the ’94 deadline for Craig MacTavish; 3. Mike Mottau, No. 182 in 1997.
6th Round: 1. Carl Hagelin, No. 168 in 2007; 2. Tony Granato, No. 120 in 1982, sacrificed after a franchise-record-setting 36-goal rookie season the following year in the deal to L.A. for Bernie Nicholls; 3. Reijo Ruotsalainen, No. 119 in 1980; 4. Tom Laidlaw, No. 93 in 1978; 5. Mike York, No. 136 in 1997, who once centered FLY Line mates Lindros and Theo Fleury; 6. Jesper Fast, No. 157 in 2010; 7. Kjell Samuelsson, No. 119 in 1984; 8. Eddie Johnstone, No. 104 in 1974; 9. Darren Turcotte, No. 114 in 1986; 10. Mackenzie Skapski, No. 170 in 2013, the Buffalo Killer.
5th Round: 1. Sergei Zubov, No. 85 in 1990, a trade mistake that supersedes the one made on Mattias Norstrom; 2. Tomas Kloucek, No. 131 in 1998, who once had his nose broken in a fight with Alexei Yashin while being held and immobilized by Mariusz Czerkawski; 3. Dale Purinton, No. 117 in 1995; 4. Jerry Butler, No. 55 in 1971; 5. Nigel Dawes, No. 149 in 2003, who scored 13 goals in 36 games playing in Germany last season; 6. Tim Gettinger, No. 141 in 2016, an impending unrestricted free agent.
4th Round: 1. Igor Shesterkin, No. 118th in 2014, 2. John Vanbiesbrouck; No. 72 in 1981, a Vezina winner three-plus decades (1986) before Shesterkin; 3. Ryan Callahan, No. 127th in 2004; 4. Tony Amonte, No. 68 in 1988, sacrificed at the ’94 deadline in the deal that brought back Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan; 5. Marc Savard, No. 91 in 1995; 6. Mario Marois, No. 62 in 1977, part of the Baby Blue Line with Ron Greschner, Dave Maloney, Mike McEwen and Dave Farrish that went to the 1979 final. 7. Andre Dore, No. 60 in 1978.
3rd Round: 1. Pavel Buchnevich, No. 75 in 2013, who was sent…well, wait, wait, we told you this is the positive portion of the program; 2. Dom Moore, No. 95 in 2000, who sent Mark Messier flying in an open ice collision heard ‘round Burlington, Vt., on the rookie’s 2003 Day 1 training camp debut; 3. Mike McEwen, No. 42 in 1976, who went to Colorado in the Barry Beck deal and later remade himself into a three-time Cup winner with the Dynasty on Long Island; 4. Eric Cairns, No. 73 in 1992, before becoming the other party of Fleury’s Chicken Dance at the Coliseum; 5. Steve Baker, No. 44 in 1977.
2nd Round: 1. Mike Richter, No. 28 in 1985; 2. Ron Greschner, No. 32 in 1974, historically overlooked by the franchise; 3. Doug Weight, No. 34 in 1990, even if he was sent away less than two years into a HHOF career in exchange for Esa Tikkanen; 4. Don Maloney, No. 26 in 1978; 5. Derek Stepan, No. 51 in 2008; 6. Brandon Dubinsky, No. 60 in 2004; 7. Jan Erixon, No. 30 overall in 1981, who somehow failed to win the Selke while Rick Meagher did; 8 Tomas Sandstrom, No. 36 overall in 1982, who once got bopped in the face by Dave Brown; 9. Michael Sauer, No. 40 in 2005, the ultimate What Might Have Been; 10. Artem Anisimov, No. 54 in 2006.
1st Round: 1. Brian Leetch, No. 9 in 1986, after defensemen Zarley Zalapski and Shawn Anderson went four-five to Pittsburgh and Buffalo, respectively, and the Devils tabbed Neil Brady at three as their checking center of the future; 2. Alex Kovalev, No. 15 in 1991, without whom the Rangers would not have won in 1994; 3. Chris Kreider, No. 19 overall in 2009, who is fifth in franchise history on the all-time goal-scoring list and should surpass Andy Bathgate and Adam Graves to become third behind icons Rod Gilbert and Jean Ratelle; 4. Steve Vickers, No. 10 overall in 1971, the best of the Bulldog Line left wings; 5. Rick Middleton, No. 14 overall in 1973, whose trade to Boston for Ken Hodge is not discussed in polite company; 6. Marc Staal, No. 12 overall in 2005, fourth in career games played by a Blueshirts defenseman behind Harry Howell, Leetch and Greschner; 7. James Patrick, No. 9 in 1981; 8. Ulf Dahlen, No. 7 in 1985; 9. Dave Maloney, No. 14 in 1974; 10. Nicklas Sundstrom, No. 8 in 1993. DNQ: Ron Duguay, No. 13 in 1977, fine career, important Ranger, but picked with Mike Bossy still on the board, so…
