Rangers draft recap, Jeff Gorton comments and a trade for Nick Holden

Jun 25, 2016
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Gorton works the phone at the 2016 draft (NYR)

The NY Rangers concluded the draft and it was uneventful to say the least. With their first pick the Rangers acquired defensemen, Sean Day. He was in TSN’s top 60, but fell down to the Rangers at 81. The issue, his weight but he has trimmed down and is looking forward to playing for the organization.

Here are the rest of the NYR picks:

Jeff Gorton Speaks

“There were a couple things we had that I would say were close, but they didn’t happen,” Gorton said of his trade discussions with other teams. “We were close a couple times, but things didn’t go the way we wanted them to. At the same time we’re not going to be forced into a deal.”

Disappointing, especially after all the noise leading up to the draft. Still, we learned that potentially both Dan Girardi and Marc Staal may be in play and according to John Shannon the Rangers are players for Stamkos.

More on that blockbuster rumor here.

Rangers acquire journeyman defenseman Nick Holden

Aside from his reasonable contract, it sounds like Holden isn’t going to be solving the Rangers problems on defense anytime soon. Adrian Dater who has long covered the Colorado Avalanche tweeted this out.

Some are citing his decent possession statistics on a bad possession team, but a 45 CF% isn’t anything to be excited about if you ask me. Jeff Gorton said this about his latest acquisition.

“I think Holden is a guy who has gotten better every year in the league, a pretty well-rounded guy,” explained Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton. “He can kill penalties, play both sides. He’s a player that can skate. I think he gives us good depth, and we’ll see where he fits in.”

Michael Kostka part 2?

You have to hope that Gorton isn’t viewing Holden as a replacement for moving Staal or Girardi…because if you are, you need to reassess how you judge defense. It is more likely that Holden was primarily obtained as a defenseman they can expose in next summer’s expansion draft.

Let’s hope.

 

By Anthony Scultore
Anthony Scultore has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL since 2014. His work also appears at ... More about Anthony Scultore
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