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.