Rangers Roundup: Last dance at Coliseum, draft lottery, and Matthew Robertson update

New York Rangers
Apr 9, 2021; Uniondale, New York, USA; New York Rangers left wing Alexis Lafreniere (13) celebrates his goal against the New York Islanders with defenseman Adam Fox (23) during the second period at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Rangers will face the Islanders tonight at the Nassau Coliseum for the last time. Next season the UBS Arena in Elmont will be the new home for the Long Island based team. Meaning tonight the Rangers can get some revenge and satisfaction by winning the last Isles home game in their original barn.

They can avenge the 6-1 loss from over a week ago that started to diminish their playoff hopes and knocked Jacob Trouba out for the last six games. More on this later when we put out our game preview. David Quinn will meet with the media at 5:30PM to announce his final lineup.

Rangers can still win the Draft Lottery again this season

The NHL Draft Lottery will take place on June 2nd. For this season, the only change being implemented is the reduction of three lottery picks to two. More changes are coming in 2022.

Per NHL.com:

The 2021 NHL Draft Lottery will be reduced from three drawings to two as part of changes announced Tuesday.

The changes, approved by the NHL Board of Governors, will determine the order of the NHL Draft for the teams that do not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Two other changes will begin with the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery:

  • Teams will be restricted from moving up more than 10 spots if it wins one of the lottery draws.
  • Teams cannot win the lottery more than twice in a five-year period. Wins in the lottery prior to 2022 will not be counted toward this total.
Rangers draft
Rangers win the draft lottery. (NBCSN/NYR)

That means when the Rangers miss out on the post season they will get a lottery ball for either the #2 or #1 pick in the draft. There’s no rule this season that would prevent the Rangers from jumping all the way into the top two.

Most likely the Blueshirts will finish as the 16th team not in the playoffs. Seattle is guaranteed the 3rd best chance to win the lottery, and if Arizona misses they have already forfeited their first round pick. That gives Jeff Gorton a 1.1% chance at the second pick, and a 0.5% chance at first overall per Tankathon.

Now wouldn’t that be something if they won it three years in row.

Matthew Robertson continues to impress

Matthew Robertson picked up two points, to go along with six shots on goal in his game last night. He currently ranks second in the WHL and tops among all defenders in shots on goal (101) and plus/minus rating (plus-25) this season.

Catch up on all the latest NHL Action

Your quick and concise NHL recap everyday at The Daily Goal Horn.

Anthony Scultore is the founder of Forever Blueshirts and has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL... More about Anthony Scultore

Mentioned in this article::

More About: