2018 NHL Draft: Report card grades for every team

DALLAS, TX - JUNE 22: Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres, Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes and Jesperi Kotkaniemi of the Montreal Canadians pose for a picture of the 2018 NHL draft on June 22, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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DALLAS, TX – JUNE 22: Vitali Kravtsov poses for a portrait after being selected ninth overall by the New York Rangers during the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 22, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images) /

New York Rangers – A

First Round Pick: Vitali Kravtsov (RW) (9), K’Andre Miller (D) (22), Nils Lundkvist (D) (28)

The Rangers did work in the first round. They had three picks and I’m a fan of all three selections. New York made no secret about their intentions to rebuild late last season. Granted, unless they trade Henrik Lundqvist, they’ll never be in a complete rebuild. He’s simply too good to keep them from losing games. But for a team claiming to be rebuilding, this was a very nice haul. Vitali Kravtsov is going to be a top six wing for New York in a couple of seasons. He is an elite scorer and will look real nice next to Filip Chytil for the next decade. K’Andre Miller and Nils Lundkvist are two defensemen with huge upside. Some say Miller, who has been playing defense for just three seasons, has the highest ceiling of any blueliner not named Dahlin. Given what a crapshoot the draft is and how closely rated all of these defensemen were, I can believe it. And Lundkvist is a guy who made a strong second half push up the Central Scouting rankings. I’m confident in saying Kravtsov will be a hit in New York. If they hit on either Miller or Lundkvist, this was a very successful first round for the Rangers. And if they hit on all three players, they won’t be rebuilding for too long.

Other Notable Picks: Olof Lindbom (G) (39)

Of course the Rangers would select a Swedish goalie who looks up to Lindqvist. Olof Lindbom was a reach at No. 39, but goalies are so tough to predict. They might have the next Lundqvist, the next Tommy Salo, or the next Viktor Fasth. Nothing else stands out past the first round for the Rangers, but they crushed their three first round picks.

This was going to be a tough draft for New York to screw up with three first round picks. They made no mistakes there.

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