New York Rangers win draft lottery, less than a week after being swept in Stanley Cup qualifier – The Boston Globe

The New York Rangers won the second phase of the NHL draft lottery, giving them a shot at selecting winger Alexis Lafreniere.

The Rangers were among eight teams that lost in the qualifying round of the playoffs with a chance to claim quite a consolation prize Monday night. The Rangers have the No. 1 overall pick for the first time since 1965, when they selected Andre Veilleux.

The league was forced to make a lot of changes after the COVID-19 pandemic paused the season, and the lottery was turned into a two-phase process.

The league’s bottom seven teams had their seasons concluded March 12. Those teams also ended up not winning the lottery in June. The Los Angeles Kings landed the No. 2 pick overall.

The winning placeholder team, which became the Rangers, got the top pick despite a 12.5% chance.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the process was fair because the eight teams that were in the expanded playoffs would have had a chance to win the lottery if the pandemic didn’t alter the season.

Ottawa ended up with the third selection overall as part of the 2018 Erik Karlsson trade with San Jose, along with the fifth pick overall. The league-worst Detroit Red Wings dropped to No. 4 in the first phase of the lottery.

While the Rangers would rather still be skating in the playoffs, they will have the rights to draft a player for a short- and long-term gain.

The sturdy, 6-foot-1 Lafreniere had 114 goals and 297 points in 173 games in the Quebec Major Junior League. The 18-year-old winger also captained Canada’s gold medal-winning team and earned MVP honors at the world junior championships earlier this year.

The Florida Panthers will have a new general manager next season, making the announcement that Dale Tallon is leaving the franchise after 10 years.

Tallon’s contract as president of hockey operations and general manager expired July 1, and was extended by Panthers owner Vincent Viola to get through the remainder of a season that was stretched out by the coronavirus pandemic. The Panthers were eliminated from the playoffs on Friday, falling to the New York Islanders in four games.

That ouster, the end of yet another season of high expectations that didn’t deliver as planned, sealed Tallon’s fate. The team said it was a mutual decision for Tallon to leave.

“For the last decade, Dale raised the team’s profile, attracted key players to South Florida and brought character and class to our franchise,” Viola said. “When we purchased the Panthers in 2013, we did so with a singular goal — to win a Stanley Cup. We have not seen our efforts come to fruition. We will now begin an organizational search for the next general manager.”

The Panthers’ decision to seek a new GM came one day after the NHL first-round playoff matchups were set, and hours before the league was holding the second phase of its draft lottery — with Florida being one of the eight teams with an equal shot at the No. 1 overall pick and chance to draft Lafreniere.

“I would like to thank the South Florida fans and community for the last 10 years, and the Viola family for the last seven with this franchise,” Tallon said. “I have had the opportunity to work with a group of first-class individuals, including a mentor of mine, the late William A. Torrey and I’ve had the privilege of watching the development of the organization’s young talent who have become great players and even better people.”

It’s believed that the Panthers will look outside the organization for a new GM. Senior vice president of hockey operations and assistant general manager Eric Joyce will likely continue to oversee the team’s AHL club.

And Roberto Luongo, the longtime Panthers goalie whose jersey was retired by the club earlier this year, is expected to remain with Florida. Luongo was brought on this season as a special advisor to Tallon, but is not believed to be a GM candidate.

Tallon had been with Florida since May 17, 2010, coming in at a time when the Panthers were 10 years removed from what had been their most recent playoff appearance. They went to the postseason three times in the decade that Tallon spent with the club, though still haven’t won a playoff series since the franchise’s lone run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996.

Tallon had successes, such as drafting Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad — now cornerstones of the team. He brought Luongo back to Florida in a trade, swung a deal in 2015 that added Jaromir Jagr to the club, assembled the 2015-16 that set team records for wins (47) and points (103), and last year was instrumental in the talks that lured his close friend Joel Quenneville to take over as coach of the Panthers.

Tallon, then in Chicago, hired Quenneville to coach the Blackhawks in 2008 and wound up watching him win three Stanley Cups there in a six-year span. Tallon wasn’t there for those Chicago titles; he was fired less than a year after delivering Quenneville.

And if Quenneville turns the Panthers into a winner, once again Tallon will be watching from elsewhere.

Tampa Bay faces the possibility of opening its series against Columbus minus its two top players.

Captain Steven Stamkos has been out since sustaining a lower body injury before the start of training camp last month. And defenseman Victor Hedman’s status is uncertain after the Norris Trophy finalist appeared to twist his right ankle in a 4-1 loss to Philadelphia on Saturday.

“It’s a tough job to fill and we have to do it collectively,” defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. “It’s not just going to be one person coming in and trying to emulate Victor Hedman.”

Columbus coach John Tortorella ruled out goalie Elvis Merzlikins for Game 1. That means the Blue Jackets will start Joonas Korpisalo, who is coming off a 33-save outing in Columbus’ 3-0 Game 5 win over Toronto on Sunday night. Korpisalo also shut out Toronto in Game 1, but was yanked for Merzlikins after allowing three goals on 15 shots in Game 3.

There are injury questions surrounding three Western teams’ leading scorers, including Vegas winger Max Pacioretty’s anticipated playoff debut for Game 1 against Chicago. Pacioretty hadn’t entered the Edmonton bubble until last week, though general manager Kelly McCrimmon said the 31-year-old cleared quarantine in time to skate four days in a row and practice Monday. Pacioretty being ready to go makes the Golden Knights even scarier. “It gives us more depth,” Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer said. “It adds our leading scorer back into our lineup. It helps our power play. He helps us in a lot of different areas.” … Dallas Stars coach Rick Bowness said “everyone’s healthy,” which seems to be good news for 50-point producer Tyler Seguin and starting goaltender Ben Bishop, who each missed the round-robin finale Sunday. … Arizona Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said forward Nick Schmaltz had gotten a full practice under his belt and was feeling better. He might not be ready for Game 1 against Colorado on Wednesday, but Schmaltz is “definitely getting close.”

SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com