Rangers invite Brennan Othmann to sit at their draft table
Rangers prospect Brennan Othmann at the MSG Training Center on Sept. 10, 2021, in Tarrytown, N.Y. Credit: Pablo Garcia Corradi
MONTREAL — The Rangers didn’t have a first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, but they got creative and found a way to have some fun on the first night of the draft Thursday at the Bell Centre.
Before the Montreal Canadiens took Slovakian forward Juraj Slavkovsky with the first overall pick, the Rangers invited their first-round pick from 2021, rugged forward Brennan Othmann, to put on his Blueshirts jersey and walk down to the draft floor to sit at the organization’s table. He met the scouts and team executives he didn’t get to meet last summer when the draft was conducted virtually.
“This is great,’’ Othmann said of getting invited to the Rangers’ table. “I mean, so classy by my agents and the Rangers to be able to let me come down on the floor and meet the scouts and the organization. It’s crazy. This is so cool here.’’
Othmann was in Montreal to support his friend, center Shane Wright, the No. 1-rated North American prospect by NHL Central Scouting.
Wright had long been expected to go No. 1 overall to the Canadiens, but in the last week or so, reports leaked out that Montreal would take Slavkovsky instead.
Wright fell to No. 4 overall, where he was selected by the Seattle Kraken.
Othmann will be at the Rangers’ Prospect Development Camp next week, and he said his goal is to make the opening night roster.
“I’m really, really excited about the summer and coming to Rangers [prospect] camp on Monday,’’ he said. “I want to make the team, but at the same time, I’m still honored that they selected me and allowed me to come down here. It should be a fun summer.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
