What should we expect from the Rangers 2022 Draft plan over the next two days? The Rangers don’t have many picks this year to work with. As of the writing of this post, they have just four picks – 2nd, 4th from Winnipeg, 5th, and 6th rounders. They have nothing on Day 1 as of now. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a strategy heading into today and tomorrow.
Expect lots of rumors
The Rangers are going to be involved in a lot of rumors over the next two days. We know they are interested in more or less every center available via trade or free agency, or at least that’s what it seems like. I don’t think we will hear names like Nazem Kadri or Sean Monahan, mostly because they don’t make too much sense for the Rangers.
That said, I would expect to hear something on JT Miller, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and/or Mark Schiefele. These are names the Rangers have been connected to for a while, and there are likely other names we haven’t heard yet.
But more importantly, at least for the next two days, I’d expect to hear names like Patrik Nemeth, who will likely be bought out if not traded at the draft, Alex Georgiev, and Julien Gauthier floated. These are names that at best will bring back draft picks.
Rangers 2022 Draft plan likely includes adding picks
The more darts to throw at the dart board, the better, and that’s likely part of the Rangers 2022 Draft plan. That’s where names like Georgiev and Gauthier in particular come in handy. The asking price for Georgiev has been a 1st round pick and a player, but I doubt Georgiev fetches that much. Maybe what Detroit paid for Alex Nedeljkovic, which was a third round pick, makes the most sense in terms of expected returns.
Gauthier will fetch a pick or two as well. Probably closer to the mid-late rounds though. He’d be a good buy-low candidate for a team that likes his skill set and sees his play driving ability. His lack of a scoring line lowers his value. Then again, if he had a scoring line, the Rangers may not have needed to upgrade from him at the trade deadline last season.
If I had to put money on one of them being moved, it’s Georgiev.
Don’t expect a monster trade
While we expect to hear a lot of rumors, I don’t think we will see a monster trade at the draft. The Rangers don’t have a first round pick to work with, which eliminates some of the urgency to get a deal done today. Any big deal for Miller, Dubois, or another center will likely get done after the draft. No need to direct attention away from the task at hand, after all.
There is some urgency to move Georgiev, given his qualifying offer is looming. The $2.65 million QO is way too expensive for the Rangers, and moving him before that QO comes to a head moves that problem to another team. Given the cost of some of the free agent options like Jack Campbell and Ville Husso, a team may find buy-low value in Georgiev.
Expect to be bored
Outside of the first day, the draft is always underwhelming. The top-ten picks rarely get moved, even if the Devils and Senators are dangling their #2 and #7 picks, respectively. We will see a few trade ups, maybe a roster player gets moved. But that’s it. Even when we thought the Rangers would move their first round picks the last two years, they’d held firm and taken Braden Schneider and Brennen Othmann.
For the Rangers specifically, I don’t expect to hear their names mentioned tonight at all, aside from a rumor or two. Tomorrow I’d expect a few trade downs and a Georgiev trade to get more shots at the dart board. That’s really it. Not exactly exciting, but this is the Drury approach. He’s methodical, and will wait this out.
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