Key Moments - 2019 Offseason

What Are You Most Excited About for 2019-20 Season?

It is summer and I’m not going to pretend like there’s a lot to talk about.

Today is August 18 and there’s not a lot to talk about in terms of hockey, more specifically the New York Rangers. There are some things that deserve a deeper dive, but those things will come closer to the start of the season after training camp is underway.

The answer to this question is likely something that has shifted for many, because there has been a number of big moments for the franchise. At one point, someone might have answered, “watching Igor Shesterkin play in North America.” Then the draft happened, and the Rangers landed Jack Hughes. But then there was the Patrick Kane trade, Jonathan Toews trade, and the hot topics of fines and penalties. There’s so many more things that could be talked about, but I’d say these are the biggest of note.

Tyler Seguin is an ex-Ranger as many others.

The Star Forward is going to Florida in a blockbuster trade. Also headed to Panthers were Chicago's 2019 1st round pick, San Jose's 2020 1st round pick and Columbus 2020 2nd round pick. 

The Rangers receive Frans Nielsen, Noah Hanifin, Evan Bouchard, Vladimir Sobotka and 4 picks in 2019 Entry Draft. 
This season, Seguin had 33 goals and 45 assists in 83 regular-season games. Seguin had 5 goals and 3 assists in 11 playoff games. Seguin’s $7.77 million annual cap hit at the time was highest on team.

Andrei Svechnikov, The Future is Now.

"The Canes rookie was eased in slowly, hit his stride late in the year, and the best part: he is just getting started." Quote from Canes Country. And it is true. Andrei Svechnikov is getting ready to sign his first EHE contract this summer. 
His vision and creativity in the passing game is at a high level and I don’t remember many people talking about it last season. He’s got a great shot, loves to throw the body around, can play in the defensive zone, and doesn’t mind getting infront of the net.

Rangers gave up picks 6 and 16 in 2019 Entry Draft along forward Sonny Milano.

What to expect from the rookie? He will fight for a top 9 spot when the camp opens. 

Landing the 1st overall.

While the much improved New York Rangers may contend for a playoff spot this season, it could be a good thing that they thought about the future on draft day.

As the Rangers continue their long-term planning, there were many rumors leading up to start of the draft that they were in talks for 1st overall pick.

Those rumors were true. Rangers land 1st overall pick in 2019 EHE Entry Draft for Dylan Larkin and pick number 8. 
"60 minutes until the EHE Entry Draft! Will the Ducks cruise to Hughes or go wakko for Kakko?" Official EHE twitter said.

You can see how close this was. 60 minutes before the draft Ducks still owned the pick. Inside info says trade discussions lasted for about 2-3 weeks and were finalized moments before official clock started to run. 

Hockey set for a new dawn in The Big Apple.

It has been a whirlwind summer if you are a New York Rangers fan and the future appears to be very bright indeed. Rangers drafted rookie phenom Jack Hughes with the No.1 overall pick in the 2019 EHE Entry Draft. After a lifetime spent dominating every level of hockey he's played, Jack Hughes is ready to start thinking about the EHE.

Ask Hughes to write his own thumbnail scouting profile and he comes back with this:

“I’m a fun player to watch. I’m exciting. I’m high skilled. The big thing is I just want to win. Lots of guys have skills. My internal motor, my internal drive is what separates me. I like to think I’m a complete player.”

Rangers get it right with big acquisition of Patrick Kane.
Post  by Kevin » Sat. Jul. 27, 2019 5:18 am -

"Kane all day in this. Top-line RW is the premium of the league, easily the most-valuable asset, and a no-brainer franchise tag."

You gotta feel good about this one.
Kane was acquired from the Boston Bruins on July 25th in exchange for defenseman Noah Hanifin, forward Brendan Gallagher and prospect Nolan Foote.

The 30-year-old left shot forward scored 33 goals and a career-low 69 points in 82 games this past season with rebuliding Bruins. 

Kane was originally drafted 16th overall by Florida in the EHE Inaugural Draft and he has broken 40 goal barrier twice in EHE and has 403 points in 371 games.  
Fun fact - Kane has been traded twice in EHE and both times Noah Hanifin was involved on the other side.
 

After a decisive spring and start to summer, the New York Rangers have made a handful of acquisitions that shake up the lineup. Last season, the Rangers toyed around with many potential lineup options and it included Zach Parise for 3 games. 
As a result of the Rangers very productive off-season, the team has added some pretty impressive pieces in their search for success. While making moves Rangers got caught up in a big controversy that got out from closed doors. A hefty $15 million fine was given when Parise went back to Rangers per new league rules. Unaware Rangers managment kept planning for the future and shortage of funds made them question what happened. Reality came out much louder than it should be and Rangers are to blame. Rangers managment did issue an apology to the commissioner of the Elite Hockey Experience, Kevin Lacy and moved on from a messy situation and looks forward to having Parise in their lineup.
He was traded twice last year and played on 3 different teams which didn't help. He scored 16 goals and 19 assists for 35 points in 78 games which was very underwhelming for a forward of his skills. Rangers gave him "A" on his jersey to show commitment and he will be competing for a top 6 role this season. “You want to be playing and you want to be contributing, so it’s not fun being on a trade rollercoaster,” Parise said. “It’s been pretty frustrating from where I was sitting".

Rangers trade for Erik Gustafsson. 
The Rangers made a real investment in Gus this year, trading Brandon Carlo plus more assets for him.

Rangers are rumored to sign Gus to 4 year deal and this year will be extremely important in reassuring that this long-term contract was the right decision. 

An offensive defenceman with above average skating abilities, Gustafsson is a quarterback on the powerplay. Based strictly on his offensive talent, he could be a fixture in the Rangers top four for a long time.

The biggest hole in the roster.

If the team expects to succeed in the EHE, they needed to fill a huge hole at center.

They were toying with an option of Jeff Carter being their number 2 Center.  
If you look at the projected lineup for next season, you’ll notice that the biggest concern is right down the middle. While the Rangers now posses the depth needed at wing and defense, they still lack depth at center, which is the most important position in all of hockey. On the Rangers’s roster the only solidified top-two center is Mika Zibanejad and despite how good he is, he is not quite ‘elite.’  He might be soon, especially now that he has more talent surrounding him, but he has yet to reach that tier.

The second Blackhawks made Toews available Rangers got in on the action as they often do.  A guy that has 404 points in  371 games? He was picked 8th overall in the Inaugural draft. He has been on two teams in his EHE career and been a Captain on both. Rangers won't be different. He will wear "C". CAPTAIN MARVELOUS is here.
Toews knows as well as anyone that missing the playoffs is unacceptable, especially for a storied Original Six franchise, so when he was asked about how he is approaching his offseason at age 31, he offered this perspective:
"Well, I would say it would probably be less intense and not as much of a workload, but I've never missed the playoffs the last few years and I'd say I have been on the ice more than anything. It's mid-August, the sun is out, it's beautiful and I'm heading to the hockey rink. I think that focus is there and I want to make the Rangers proud."

Rangers leadership for next year looks to be:

"C" - Jonathan Toews
"A" - Zach Parise
"A" - Undecided but many good options include Patrick Kane, Chris Kreider, Mats Zucarello and John Carlsson.

Best,

GM of the New York Rangers, Martin Auzins