Rangers not considering trading No. 2 pick at 2019 NHL Draft, GM says

BUFFALO --The New York Rangers are unlikely to trade the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and are counting the days until they hope to add a franchise player, general manager Jeff Gorton said Tuesday.

Center Jack Hughes and right wing Kaapo Kakko are the projected top two players in the Draft, to be held June 21-22 in Vancouver. Gorton said the chance to land one of them means the Rangers are unlikely to trade the pick.
Hughes (5-foot-10, 170 pounds), led USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Under-18 team with 112 points (34 goals, 78 assists) in 50 games, and set the NTDP career record for assists (154) and points (228) in two seasons (110 games) at the program. He is projected to be the No. 1 pick, which is held by the New Jersey Devils.
Kakko (6-2, 194), a right wing with TPS in Liiga, had 38 points (22 goals, 16 assists) in 45 games despite being the youngest player on a team that averaged 25.43 years in age. The 18-year-old is No. 1 in Central Scouting's final ranking of international skaters.
The Rangers finished 32-36-14, 20 points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
In a wide-ranging interview with NHL.com at the 2019 NHL Scouting Combine, Gorton discussed why the Rangers are unlikely to trade down, the future of goalie Henrik Lundqvist and the excitement of the organization and fan base about the ongoing rebuild.
Let's start with the obvious: Surely you'll continue to get offers for the No. 2 pick at the Draft. Are you going to keep it?
I think it's fair to say we are going to take that pick. It's our job, my job in particular, to listen to anything anybody will say when the phone rings on any of those things. But we're in a pretty good spot. We know we're going to get a pretty good player. So like I said, the opportunity to pick this high at the highest the Rangers have ever picked, that's where we want to be.
How much anticipation is there within the organization and the fan base to get to Vancouver and make the selection?
I think the opportunity to get a franchise player, it's hard to do. The opportunity to have the opportunity to get the type of player we're going to get, our fans know it. They can sense it, and I don't think the draft can come fast enough right now.

Has the fact that you moved up from No. 6 to No. 2 in the Draft Lottery sunk in yet?
Yeah. Listen, the whole thing is exciting. Like I mentioned after it happened, we've never been in this position in the history of the franchise. It's a long time. So the ability to pick second and the opportunity to get a player that's going to be available, it's going to be exciting for everybody.
Henrik Lundqvist earlier this month told Expressen, a newspaper in Sweden, that he would like to finish his career with the Rangers "but if the club has other ideas, I know I'll have to listen." What is your take on Lundqvist's future?
Hank has two more years and we're prepared that he's going to be a Ranger. We'll move forward like that. I think that if you look over the season, the first part of the year was great, second part not as good, he made the All-Star team. … So we know that Hank's still a good goalie. Obviously what we're doing, we're going to need goaltending. We're acting like Hank's back and wants to be back.
Lundqvist (Sweden), Hughes (U.S.) and Kakko (Finland) all took part in the recent 2019 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia. Lundqvist aside, what did you think of the performances of the two draft-eligible kids?
They were impressive**