New York Rangers drafting Alexis Lafrenière is a fan’s dream come true
Picture it, my friends, you’ve had the bad fortune recently of being laid off from your job. After several fruitless and ultimately futile job interviews, you continue to email, fax and drop off your many-times edited resume. Eagerly awaiting another phone call from a Human Resources department.
You come across what appears to be your dream vocation on an online job website. You upload your resume with very little hope of even being contacted by this company. Low and behold, you receive that magical email asking you to venture to their home offices for an in-person interview. After said interview, you return home with just a slight hint of optimism, but you’re fully expecting to be passed over. You’re preparing to dive right back into the job seeking process.
Then, after a few days of pondering, wondering and hypothesizing, your phone rings. The number on the caller ID looks somewhat familiar. Your minds start racing. You sheepishly and with skepticism, answer the call. On the other end is, sure enough, the HR Representative you’ve been desperately hoping to hear from. Not only does this person offer you your dream job, but the compensation and benefits originally discussed at the meeting were significantly more than you expected.
Like a New York Rangers dream
Boiled down, you’ve been offered the job of your dreams, at a higher pay grade with greater benefits and more attractive amenities. Now, my friends, would even think of turning down this chance of a lifetime down? With bills mounting and with your savings dwindling, is there any part of you that would even consider continuing to send out your resume hoping for something better?
Well, on Monday evening, August 10th, 2020, the New York Rangers were essentially, offered their “dream job”. It occurred when that tiny, circular, hollow piece of plastic with that beautiful Ranger shield was revealed to the sporting world. Signifying that the Blueshirts had won the NHL draft lottery.
It took Rangerstown, collectively, less than a millisecond. The realization that their beloved Blueshirts now had the exclusive opportunity to select the consensus number 1 overall prospect, left wing Alexis Lafrenière, with the top pick.
Alexis Lafreniere rumors
However, it did not take long for “stories” to start surfacing about how the Rangers should trade the first overall selection. Or perhaps, the Rangers should look at drafting the hulking center man Quinton Byfield because center was more of a position of need.
I am here to tell you clearly, succinctly and definitively, that the Rangers will not trade the pick, nor will they draft Byfield or anyone besides the Rimouski Oceanic standout, Lafrenière. As my fellow Long Suffering Ranger fans are well-aware, good fortune and the Blueshirts are not synonymous with one-another especially as it pertains to the NHL draft. Lady Luck hand delivers through express mail this blessing via an air-suction machine and the Rangers are going to look a gift horse square in the mouth and say, “no thanks”?
New York Rangers and Alexis Lafreniere
Team president John Davidson and especially general manager Jeff Gorton have done a masterful job tearing down the antiquated and stale Ranger roster only to rebuild the franchise with an arsenal of young talent the likes of which have not been seen on the corner of 7th Avenue and 33rd Street since the late 1960’s. Having the chance to select Lafrenière, a legitimate future franchise player, is an opportunity that comes along once in a lifetime…at least for the Rangers it does.
The Rangers, publicly, have not given any indication as to where they are going to go with the pick. Nor should they. When was the last time any team in any sport that held that first overall selection made the pick known before the draft? The draft has become a television spectacular and declaring the top pick before-hand would ruin the moment for the league, the team and the soon-to-be super rich 18 year old. The silence from Davidson and Gorton has caused some to speculate that they are perhaps fielding offers or scouting other players, but trust me my friends, the pick should be and will be Alexis Lafrenière
Heck, it would not surprise me to see the native of Saint-Eustache, Canada in New York on draft night. Either at the Rangers training facility in Westchester or at the Garden itself being announced and introduced by the team’s hierarchy, family in tow, accepting the adulation and accolades of having been named the number one overall pick in the 2020 NHL entry draft. Rangers fans should be discussing who Laf’s eventual line mates will be once the 2020-21 season commences instead of playing armchair GM and seeing if an Eric Lindros-type return for the first overall draft spot is even feasible.
Get ready, oh Garden Faithful, Get ready to see the “Next One” skating on the Garden ice wearing the red, while and blue colors of New York’s one and only hockey team.
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