The Rangers, in large part because they purged many of their veterans ahead of the February trade deadline, are on the docket to make five of the top 48 picks in next weekend’s entry draft.
Three of the picks, Nos. 9, 26, and 28, will come in the first round, the second of which Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton picked up in the swap that sent Rick Nash to Boston. No. 28 was delivered by Tampa, in the deal that sent J.T. Miller and Ryan McDonagh to the Lightning.
Along with their own second-round pick (No. 39), the Rangers also own No. 48, compliments of sending Michael Grabner to the Devils. They also own Boston’s third-round pick at No. 88, for sending defenseman Nick Holden to the Bruins.
“It was a hard thing,’’ said Gorton, reflecting on the decision to cashier a substantial portion of the veteran core. “It was a lot of years of a pretty good team that didn’t quite finish it off. But we went to the Stanley Cup Final, the conference finals. We did a lot of things there with good teams and good players . . . but it was over, right? And I think sometimes the hardest thing for an organization to do is admit that and do something about it.’’
The Blueshirts also picked up a pair of promising centers with first-round picks in last year’s draft — Lias Andersson (No. 7) and Filip Chytil (21). Both were given short looks on Broadway this past season and will be expected to push for full-time varsity spots come September.
The same will be expected of defenseman Ryan Lindgren, the former Bruins prospect (No. 49, 2016) who was part of the Nash exchange. He signed quickly with New York after his sophomore season ended at the University of Minnesota, and he finished with 10 games at AHL Hartford.
Gorton also plucked two high-end prospects, Brett Howden (C) and Libor Hajek (D), from Tampa in the Miller-McDonagh trade.
“You can get all the talented kids in the world at age 18 and 19,’’ noted Gorton, “but if you can’t make them better, then shame on you, I guess.’’
The addition of all the kids, along with another infusion of youth next weekend in the draft, factored heavily into Gorton’s decision to hire David Quinn off the Boston University campus as his next coach.
Quinn’s charge will be to shape these kids into viable NHL players. Not all will deliver, of course, but such are the inherent risks of trying to build franchises around the perceived upsides of 18- and 19-year-olds.
“At the end of the day, David to me — and the group of us that make those decisions — was an obvious choice.’’ said Gorton, who launched his career as an intern in the Bruins’ front office. “Everyone says you’re dipping into the college pool. Well, if you look beyond that, he has been an assistant coach in the NHL (Colorado), he was head coach in the American League, has coached a development team . . . has coached women’s teams and a World Championship team. He has a long history of different things, development and understanding of how players have changed — and what we need to do to get the best out of them.’’
One prime target for Quinn already on the Rangers’ roster will be ex-Harvard standout Jimmy Vesey, the Hobey Baker winner in 2016 who opted not to sign with Nashville, the club that drafted him, and instead hitched on with the Rangers. In two seasons, the speedy left winger has delivered but 33 goals and 55 points, and it will now be up to Quinn to help him boost his scoring levels.
Vesey is one of five free agent forwards, including ex-Bruin Ryan Spooner, whom Gorton must sign over the summer.
“Definitely a name that I am looking at, saying, ‘This will be good for Jimmy,’ ’’ said Gorton, who didn’t see the 25-year-old thrive under prior coach Alain Vigneault. “He needs a little bit of a fresh start, an opportunity to play a little more and show what he has . . . so I will be curious to see how David will help Jimmy.’’
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Russian market no help to Bruins
As the weekend approached, the Bruins remained hopeful that they could persuade aging Russian scoring sensation Ilya Kovalchuk (417 NHL goals) to make Boston his home.
In the 30 years that Russians have made their way regularly to NHL employment, the Bruins have had varied results in the market. Their first success story, Dmitri Kvartalnov, was short-lived, back in the day when he was “Hoss’’ on the Bonanza Line with Adam Oates and L’il Joe Juneau.
Their greatest triumph was Sergei Samsonov, selected No. 8 in 1997, and the Magical Moscovite went on to win Rookie of the Year in 1998.
But who could forget the failed dalliances with Evgeni Ryabchikov (Round 1, 1994) or Andrei “The Empty Tank’’ Kovalenko (signed as a free agent in July 2000).
In recent years, in terms of the draft, the Bruins have all but abandoned the Russian market. They haven’t selected a Russian in the last six drafts, not since nabbing Alexander Khokhlachev in the second round (No. 40) in 2011.
Overall, in the 20 years of drafts since 1997, the Bruins have selected only seven Russians, and that’s including Latvian-born Georgy Pujacs. Of those seven, only Sergei Zinovjev (10 games, 0-1—1) and Khokhlachev (9 games, 0-0—0) ever pulled on a Boston uniform. Seven picks, one NHL point.
The Russian Seven since 1997:
Georgy Pujacs (D), 1999, No. 264 — Played a season with UHL Elmira, but otherwise enjoyed a lengthy career in the KHL.
Sergei Zinovjev (C), 2000, No. 73 — Picked up his one NHL assist in his 10 games with the Bruins in 2003-04 before leaving that season for Ak Bars Kazan to start a 10-year KHL career.
Dmitri Utkin (F), 2002, No. 228 — Never came to North America. Hopscotched around KHL for a few years. Played 13 games last season, after a seven-year hiatus, in Slovakia.
Vladislav Yevseyev (LW), 2002, No. 56 — Played eight seasons in Russia, collected a career 31 points.
Yury Alexandrov (D), 2006, No. 37 — The same year the Bruins selected Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic, and Brad Marchand. Played the 2010-11 season with Providence, then returned to play the last seven seasons in the KHL.
Maxim Chudinov (D), 2010, No. 195 — Remained in Russia, played last eight seasons in KHL, splitting time last year between St. Petersburg and Omsk.
Alexander Khokhlachev (F), 2011, No. 40 — Gave North America a shot, including four seasons with AHL Providence. Now 25, has spent the last two seasons in the KHL. Some rumblings he would return, now that Bruce Cassidy is coaching the varsity, but he remains a defected player, meaning the Bruins retain his NHL rights. Played nine scoreless games with Boston over three seasons.
All that said, GM Don Sweeney said last week that he remains open to drafting a Russian, perhaps next weekend.
“I recognize that other teams have done it better than we have as an organization,’’ he said. “I am not opposed to drafting a [Russian] player at all. Passport doesn’t matter to me. But you do have to have knowledge as to what makes that player tick and what does the landscape look like. My hope is that we’ll improve in that area.’’
The Capitals won the Stanley Cup this year in large part because of their star Russians, Alexander Ovechkin (playoff MVP) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (32 playoff points), with help from defenseman Dmitri Orlov.
“The resources will be there, if we find the right person to work with,’’ said Sweeney, asked if the club had invested enough scouting resources in the Russian market. “I’ve certainly had some talks with some people, but things haven’t lined up quite yet. And that’s my own fault. It’s an inefficiency. We need to be better.’’
ETC.
Tavares ready to leave Island?
Only two weeks to go before the start of free agency (July 1), and although he can’t officially field an offer until that day, Islanders unrestricted free agent John Tavares can start talking with clubs as early as June 25.
The Islanders, operating under new management, want to keep their star center, and they have some promise to sell him after the brilliant rookie season of Mathew Barzal. Tavares, in his ninth season with the franchise, finished with 84 points, one behind the dazzling Barzal (Rookie of the Year finalist with Vancouver’s Brock Boeser and Arizona’s Clayton Keller).
The collective bargaining agreement also affords the Islanders a slight edge in negotiations, enabling them to offer Tavares (669 games, 621 points) an eight-year deal, while the other 30 clubs are limited to seven-year deals.
Rarely do such high-profile UFAs leave their clubs, so the odds remain in favor of Tavares staying. The odds, too, point to the Islanders needing to exceed market rate (unknown) to retain him, now that they have a new building to erect on Long Island and a disillusioned fan base to recapture in the great Uniondale, N.Y., environs.
That said, there will be serious bidders, perhaps as close by as the Rangers and Devils, both of whom have cap space. Of the two, the resurgent Devils might be the most appealing to Tavares, what with MVP candidate Taylor Hall (39 goals, 93 points) in his prime and under contract for two more seasons. Step No. 2 for Devils GM Ray Shero, if able to get Tavares signed, would be to figure how quickly he could add five or more years to Hall’s pact — at a price equal to Tavares.
The Rangers don’t have a winger of Hall’s ilk to partner with him. There isn’t a more exciting place to play than Madison Square Garden when the Rangers are cooking, but it could be a while before that happens and Tavares has waited a long time for something good to happen — the very thing that could keep him from extending his tour with the Fish Sticks.
Elsewhere, the Blues want to make a splash and have the dollars to do it, and with young flashy wingers Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko in residence. With Tavares slotted between the two, it’s a line that could generate 200 or more points per season (since you asked, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak rolled up 228 points last season). It’s probably his best fit.
In San Jose, the Sharks are still deciding whether to bring Jumbo Joe Thornton (39 on July 2) back for another tour. They recently rolled out crazy money (seven years/$49 million) for Evander Kane and the ex-Jet/ex-Sabre likely would be Tavares’s left winger much of the time. That in itself probably will keep Tavares away.
Finally, the Canucks have to rebuild now that twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin have moved to Rocking Chair Square. His running mate there would be Boeser, seemingly a perfect fit for Tavares’s game.
The bet here: Tavares remains on Long Island, but for much more than Lou Lamoriello cares to spend once his old club in Jersey boosts the price.
On the short end
It’s not all about points, but the Bruins came up a little short on the final scoring line when comparing the four roster players they added at the trade deadline against the three they subtracted.
Consider each player’s production after the deals:
Going out: Ryan Spooner, Rangers — 20 games, 4-12—16; Rob O’Gara, Rangers — 22 games, 0-3—3; Frank Vatrano, Panthers — 16 games, 5-3—8; Total — 48 games, 9-18—27
Coming in: Brian Gionta — 20 games, 2-5—7; Rick Nash — 11 games, 3-3—6; Nick Holden — 18 games, 1-4—5; Tommy Wingels — 18 games, 2-3—5; Total — 67 games, 8-15—23
As part of the roster machinations, the Bruins also signed Ryan Donato out of Harvard. The winger played 12 games and contributed 5-4—9.
Bergeron goes for fifth Selke
Patrice Bergeron will arrive in Las Vegas Monday night, ahead of the NHL awards show to be staged Wednesday at the Hard Rock. The veteran Bruins center hopes to win a record fifth Selke Trophy as the game’s top defensive forward. His competition consists of Sean Couturier (Flyers) and Anze Kopitar (Kings).
Sylvain Couturier, Sean’s dad, was the assistant coach at Acadie-Bathurst (Quebec League) during Bergeron’s one year there leading to his Boston debut in 2003-04. The senior Couturier is now Acadie-Bathurst’s GM and Sean, 25, just wrapped up his seventh season with the Flyers.
“Sean was, I don’t know, maybe 10 years old when I was 17,’’ noted Bergeron, recalling that the younger Couturier was a constant presence at the Titan’s workouts. “Kind of funny to think about that now.’’
Kopitar, who won his lone Selke in 2016, finished tops among the finalists in points (92) and in faceoff wins (983). Couturier had 76 points and 529 wins at the dot, while Bergeron had 63 points and 784 faceoff wins.
According to Bruins GM Don Sweeney, Bergeron in recent days underwent a minor operation, one that won’t keep him from training camp or prevent him from starting the season on time.
Upon packing his bags in Boston in May, Bergeron said he might face surgery for a groin injury that plagued him for stretches of the season. Sweeney would not disclose the nature of the operation.
Loose pucks
The NHL Board of Governors will meet Tuesday in Las Vegas, and it’s a good bet the Lords of the Boards will share a few thoughts on officiating, which was wildly inconsistent through the first two rounds of the playoffs . . . The league this coming week is expected to announce the salary cap figure for the upcoming season. It is expected to land in the range of $78 million to $82 million, or 100 percent or more above the $39m cap figure when it was instituted following the 2004-05 lockout. If it’s 100 percent, that means the cap has grown at 7.7 percent per season, among the few wages that have outpaced US college tuition over the same period . . . Rumors last week had the Bruins kicking the tires on Vancouver’s first-round pick (No. 7) in the upcoming draft. Jim Benning, the Canucks’ GM, was part of the Boston front office when Torey Krug had his coming-out in the 2013 playoffs. The Canucks need backline help. Alex Edler, 32, was their top producer back there last season with 34 points. Krug has averaged 55 points over the last two seasons . . . Stars center Tyler Seguin has only next season remaining, at $5.75 million, on the long-term deal he signed in Boston that proved to be the precursor to his July 4, 2013, trade to Dallas. He is 54 weeks from reaching unrestricted free agency. In his five seasons in Big D: 173 goals and 384 points.
Vegas is up against Charlotte to host the Republican National Convention in July 2020. It could mean T-Mobile, home of the Knights, acts as the GOP’s center stage, unless the Raiders’ new stadium is operational . . . Less than two weeks after ex-Boston University Terrier Paul Fenton was named the Wild’s new GM, he hired another ex-Terrier, 74-year-old Jack Ferreira, as his assistant. Ferreira (class of 1966), was a goalie on Comm. Ave. for three seasons. In his senior season, sophomore forward Jack Parker went 9-13—22 in 34 games.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD. Material from interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.
