The New York Rangers have created arguably the top farm system in the NHL since beginning their rebuild with “The Letter” on February 8th, 2018. How did they get to this point so quickly?
During the past three years, the Blueshirts have demonstrated both patience and effective long-term planning by trading fan-favorites, such as Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello, Ryan McDonagh, and Kevin Hayes, for draft picks and prospects. They also benefitted from some extraordinary draft lottery luck along the way (i.e., Alexis Lafrenière and Kaapo Kakko).
This is not to say that it has been the perfect blueprint for a rebuild to be clear.