DALLAS — The Rangers went a little away from what was expected, taking 18-year-old Russian winger Vitali Kravtsov with the No. 9-overall selection in the NHL entry draft Friday night.
With quite a few of the bigger names falling in the draft, there were a couple of good options for the Blueshirts — including Evan Bouchard, Oliver Wahlstrom, Noah Dobson and Ty Smith. But as it was announced by the club’s longtime director of player personnel, Gordie Clark, they went with the 6-foot-3, 185-pound right-hander who has been playing in the KHL.
Kravtsov played 35 games this season for Traktor Chelyabinsk, putting up four goals and seven points and winning the Alexei Cherepanov Award as the league’s Rookie of the Year.