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There was, and still is, a case to be made that the Rangers hierarchy should have been more aggressive in trying to move up from 22nd overall with their second first-round pick in the 2020 entry draft to be in position to select a center.

Anton Lundell, who went 12th overall to Florida, and Dawson Mercer, who went 18th to the Devils, would have been the candidates to step in and fill an organizational hole down the middle.

But we’re told the hierarchy at the time, consisting of president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton, only had eyes for physical right defenseman Braden Schneider, whom the club nabbed at No. 19 by sending both the No. 22 and No. 72 selections to Calgary in an exchange of picks. Essentially from the moment he was drafted, the organization envisioned Schneider as the third-pair guy of the future behind Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba.