New Guy´s » thought we made some good plays.

NEW YORK (AP) The Rangers face an unfamiliar challenge after stockpiling picks for the June draft: Maximizing a franchise-record 10 selections Adidas Gabriel Gagne Jersey , including three in the first round.Rebuilding means keeping options open for trades while also targeting players who best fit the team’s goals.Assistant general manager Chris Drury says the team’s priorities are adding young, competitive players with speed and skill and ”a premium on high character.””It’s one thing to have all these great picks … you have to be ready and be prepared to make the right picks,” Drury said.The 10 picks are a high for the Rangers under the draft’s current format of seven rounds. The team also has nine picks in the 2019 draft, including a conditional first-round selection from Tampa Bay it received in a trade-deadline blockbuster for defenseman Ryan McDonagh.New York also dealt Nick Holden and Rick Nash to Boston, plus Michael Grabner to New Jersey in four separate deals, bringing back eight players and six draft picks.General manager Jeff Gorton said the picks give the Rangers flexibility and currency.”We have to look at both scenarios,” he said when asked if he would be willing to trade picks for current NHL players.”We’ll look at different positions and see what’s available. When you have three first-round picks and you’re on the draft floor, opportunity will be there,” Gorton said.The playoffs and draft lottery will shape the value of the first-round selections. Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is the consensus pick among experts as the top overall draft pick this year Adidas Mikkel Boedker Jersey , and New York’s other first-round picks will depend on how Boston and Tampa Bay perform in the playoffs. Both could be serious Stanley Cup contenders.Team officials like the early returns even for an organization that has been known to sacrifice its future for the present.”Certainly a lot of energy moving forward to prep between now and getting to the stage in Dallas,” Drury said of the site of June’s draft.— NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Nashville Predators know they might well end up seeing Dallas in the first round of the playoffs, and that made protecting home ice even more crucial after a loss here to the Stars only six days ago.Ryan Johansen scored 43 seconds into overtime and the Predators beat the Stars 3-2 on Thursday night for their second straight win and a little cushion in the Central Division.“They’ve been playing some very good hockey lately, and we’re not going to let that happen anymore, especially in our building,” Johansen said.Juuse Saros made 27 saves to improve to 14-6-1, with wins in six of his last seven starts.Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and an assist, and Craig Smith also scored for Nashville Adidas James Van Riemsdyk Jersey , which evened the season series at 2-2-0 and pushed the second-place Predators’ lead to nine points over the Stars in the division.Taylor Fedun and Miro Heiskanen scored for Dallas, which ended its season-high five-game winning streak.Saros made a pad save on Alexander Radulov with 1:38 left in regulation, and Nashville had a chance late with Johansen’s shot from the slot wide.Johansen made up for that with his winner with a wrister from the inside edge of the right circle set up by a pass from Arvidsson.“Great individual play there,” Johansen said of his linemate. “We were kind of looping and swooping waiting for some space. Even when he got it down in the corner, it was bobbling and he had to make a good play and he put it right in my wheelhouse. It’s good to finish it off.”Nashville had a lot on the line, wanting revenge after a 3-1 loss to the Stars last weekend.“It’s good to get a win just because they’ve beaten us the last two times,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said of the Stars. “They’re playing well right now.”The Predators also debuted forwards Brian Boyle and Cody McLeod after a pair of trades Wednesday , and center Kyle Turris returned after missing the last 17 games because of an injury. The 6-foot-6 Boyle immediately joined the top power-play unit, planting himself in front of the net Adidas Christian Folin Jersey , and McLeod just missed on a scoring chance in the second.Khudobin came in having allowed only one goal in Dallas’ last two wins over Nashville, and he robbed Kevin Fiala on a 2-on-1 with a great glove save in the first period. But the Predators finally beat the goalie by literally scoring off him. Fiala’s shot deflected off Smith’s back over the net and bounced off Khudobin’s back and in at 17:48 of the period.“That was the easiest goal I’ve scored,” Smith said. “We’re doing a lot of the right things. I thought we made some good plays. You’re going to have to make enough good plays to get good looks. I thought we did that. We got rewarded with an easy one.”The Stars tied it up twice in the third to set up the final game of the season series Feb. 19 in Dallas. Heiskanen tied it up at 3:05, and Fedun tied it at quicklyafter Arvidsson’s goal put Nashville up 2-1. In between, defenseman Roman Polak swept the puck away from the goal line after Colton Sissons‘ slap shot went off Khudobin’s stick.“We’re coming out and believing that we can win games, and we put ourselves in a really good situation tonight,” Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. “We got a point and we got five out of six points in this rink against a really good hockey team.”NOTES: Nashville improved to 24-3-1 when scoring first. … Buffalo Beauts goalie Shannon Szabados was at the game ahead of the NWHL All-Star Game here Sunday. … Tennessee athletic director Phillip Fulmer and football coach Jeremy Pruitt were at the game.UP NEXTStars: Visit Arizona on Saturday.Predators: Visit St. Louis on Saturday afternoon.