I think there are a few factors to consider when looking at how the Rangers have drafted.
1. We have to take into account the loss of picks from 2013-2016. It's hard to look at a 10 year span when you're missing 40 percent of your picks.
2. With the way the CHL is covered, it's getting harder to find hidden gems when you get beyond the top talents. Those kids are usually identified pretty early and are subsequently selected pretty early. As a result, if you're a team that is consistently picking in the second half of the draft, your probably going to be looking elsewhere to see if you can find those diamonds in the rough. I don't think it's any coincidence that the Rangers starting looking elsewhere when their draft position started coming later.
3. Somewhat in line with the second point, I think they just had other kids like they liked better in 2017 and 2018. But I don't there's a particular dislike for CHL kids, I believe it depends on the draft. When you look at the TDL moves, it basically gave them a 2016 draft back. As such, they nabbed two kids who played in the WHL.
4. This year, there's a very strong crop of CHL kids --- especially in the WHL. I'd say the odds of the Rangers taking a CHL kid, especially from the WHL, are probably higher than years past.
