The 2017 NHL Draft in Chicago was a little more than four months ago, but since then, the entire tenor of the Rangers’ organization changed. Back then, general manager Jeff Gorton joked about having not been on the first-night draft stage in a long time — because the organization had been without a first-round pick since 2012.
The rebuilding that has happened in the interim has vaulted the Rangers’ prospect pool from one of the worst in the league to one of the best. They made five first-round picks in the past two drafts combined, added four highly touted prospects in trades just this past season and now have the kind of organizational depth that actually has other teams calling and asking about Rangers prospects.