If there’s one takeaway from the 2019 NHL Draft, it’s this: The hockey hobby is poised for a big resurgence on the East Coast.
After years of dwindling interest as their teams settled into mediocrity, major cities like New York and Philadelphia are poised to become powerful market drivers again. GM Jeff Gorton has done a masterful job with his reconstruction of the Blueshirts, capped off at this event with the acquisition of Finnish prodigy Kaapo Kakko. The second-overall pick is an outsized talent, ideally suited for the bright lights of Broadway.
Add in the five first-rounders from the past two drafts – particularly Lias Andersson, Filip Chytil and Vitali Kravtsov – and the Rangers are loaded with the kind of exciting, young talent that wins games and drives collectors to local shops.