2018 NHL mock draft: Eastern Conference teams

28. New York Rangers (from Tampa Bay) – Rasmus Kupari

Kupari would be the third Rasmus taken in the first round. However, he throws a wrench into things in that he isn’t a Swedish defenseman. A center who hails from Kotka, Finland, he didn’t get much a chance to show off his game this year playing for Kaprat in the SM-liiga. He had six goals and 14 points in 39 games. He did end up playing on a line with Winnipeg Jets prospect Kristian Vesalainen, where he got more ice time than he’d been getting all season.

He represented his country at the World Juniors and once again got the short end of the stick. In stat line at the tournament reads zeroes across the board. Hard to make an impact when you’re barely given a shot. Sportsnet’s Sam Consentino spoke to this point in his top 31 prospect rankings.

"“A very difficult player to scout as he barely played at the world juniors and was scratched on several occasions while playing in Finland’s top men’s league.”"

He did have three goals and seven points in 11 games with Karpat’s under-20 team so there is some skill there. Kupari just needs more of a chance to show it. Will that come next year? Whichever team drafts him will definitely hope so.

The Rangers close out their first round picks by addressing another need at center. While they do have Filip Chytil and Lias Andersson near NHL-ready, they need more to help them in the future. Their current top four, in no particular order, are: Mika Zibanejad, Peter Holland, Kevin Hayes and Vladislav Namestnikov.

It’s a young group, but not one that inspires much confidence. Having the two prospects they have now and the addition of Kupari would give them such much needed depth down the middle.