Report: Lundqvist Confident Rangers Will Have Quick Turnaround
In speaking with the NY Post, Henrik Lundqvist declared that next year’s New York Rangers squad will be focused on one thing: winning.
Perhaps not the biggest bombshell to come out of the mouth of the longest-tenured Ranger; but after all the talk of “tanking,” Henrik is looking to restore the winning mentality as quickly as possible.
“Next year has to be about winning and nothing else.” Henrik Lundqvist/NY Post
After the Rangers got off to a brutal 3-7-2 start to their season, they were able to turn the season around, in large part, because of Henrik Lundqvist. The Rangers have yet to fix a lot of the issues that plagued them in those October days, but the light at the end of the tunnel seems to be fast approaching. 2017 first-round picks Filip Chytil and Lias Andersson have looked solid since being recalled from Hartford last week. Defensemen Neal Pionk and John Gilmour have shown they are NHL ready and should be in serious contention to make the opening night roster come October 2018.
As for this summer’s draft, Lundqvist mentioned that unless the team was “guaranteed” for a top-three pick, the draft order doesn’t matter as much as who is taken. As Lundqvist himself admitted, part of his thinking is that he was picked so late in the 2000 NHL draft when you are in a position to draft in the top-ten of the first round, you are going to get a great prospect.
“…but I think when you get past that, you have about the same chance of getting a big-time player as you go down the first round and then even after that.” Henrik Lundqvist/NY Post
Regardless of where the Rangers end up placing in the draft lottery, which will be held in a few weeks, the message from Lundqvist is simple: the time to win is now.
Note: To read the full article from Larry Brooks, click here
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