New Jersey Devils: Grading Every Metropolitan Team’s 2019 NHL Draft
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers also had themselves a really nice weekend. They moved up from 6 to 2 at the 2019 Draft Lottery and earned the right to get the second best player in the draft, Kaapo Kakko. This is a player who is going to make it to the NHL within the first year and will be right there with Hughes as a Calder Trophy candidate.
He can score goals from all over the ice, but he also moves well and has the ability to make plays. Kakko is physically mature and will fit right into the NHL as soon as the puck drops for New York in October. The Hughes vs Kakko debate is over as far as who goes where, but the debate of who was the right pick could last a decade. It will re-spark the rivalry and the best case scenario for the rivalry would be for both of them to be awesome.
The Rangers also hit gold when they selected Matthew Robertson in the 2nd round. He will likely be a top-four defenseman in the NHL thanks to his great skating and good hockey IQ. That means that if both do pan out, they nailed the first two rounds and the draft as a whole simply based on average percentages. This was an awesome draft for them and they also added defenseman Jacob Trouba and Adam Fox since the season has ended. Devils-Rangers might be a playoff series once again sooner than you think.