Laf, Kakko, Chytil, Miller, Othmann are all 23 and under. 30 teams in the league would trip over their own feet running to the phone to get any of these players. Rangers have made some mistakes like all teams do, but they don't necessarily suck at drafting. They and the fan base suck at having patience. They suck at developing players. You can't take your top end young skilled players neuter them and tell them to play like 3rd and 4th line grinding numbskull neanderthals, and be surprised when they don't work out.
Some teams pick up our failed draft picks and turn them into useful players. Once they get away from the Rangers retirement resort old-boys club and century-old mentality of how young guys need to toil in the bottom before getting anything resembling an actual fair shake, they suddenly look like good players. Not the fake 10 game try out. Actual sustained season-long opportunities in big spots.
It's not a coincidence that so many players come through here and it's always the same results. Maybe it's not the players at that point but instead it's the Rangers inability to develop any player and the fans fault for pressuring the team because they need instant gratification.
And this extends not just to drafted players, but young players acquired through trades and UDFAs.
There's three examples in the Stanley Cup Final right now. Duclair, Howden, Marchessault. They weren't good enough for the Rangers high horse and cla$$ but they're good enough to contend for a Cup elsewhere while the Rangers and their bright lights are golfing, and one of them most likely high and DJing every night instead of trying to be a better hockey player.
theathletic.com
