The Rangers do not have a pick in tonight’s First Round of the 2022 Draft.
The Rangers traded a conditional second-round pick to Winnipeg that turned into their first-round pick after the Rangers advanced to the Eastern Conference Final.
This is the first time since 2016 that the Rangers don’t have a first-round pick. The Rangers have had nine first round picks, eight remain with the team, since 2017.
Adam Rotter: It seems like the real question with the Rangers tonight is how many of the eight remaining first round picks will still be on the team by the end of tonight. Alexis Lafreniere, Braden Schneider, K’Andre Miller and probably Brennan Othmann seem like locks, but Kaapo Kakko, Vitali Kravtsov, Nils Lundkvist and Filip Chytil are all up in the air.
The focus is on filling the spot that Ryan Strome and Andrew Copp will leave and without an actual first round pick, those four former first round picks that are up in the air are the Rangers best trade chips. JT Miller has returned to being the big name being bandied about, but there seems to be a poker game of interested teams not making their best offers and Vancouver saying they are willing to wait until the trade deadline to move him.
It could be a very quiet night for the Rangers or they could strike to fill their biggest need and find someone to slot in behind Mika Zibanejad and next to Artemi Panarin. They have the assets to make a deal, including their 2023 first rounder, but we’ll have to see whether Chris Drury is ready to deal.