“Sorry About Your First” – Copp, Rangers Move on to Third Round

The New York Rangers have officially made it to the Eastern Conference Final, beating the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 in Game 7 on the road at PNC Arena on Monday night.

The game was only close until opening puck drop; it was all Rangers from that point on. Just four years removed from the team issuing a statement to its fans on the current rebuild process, New York navigated its way through two rounds of playoff hockey and now finds itself setup to face off against the dominant Tampa Bay Lightning in the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Once again helping lead the way for the Blueshirts with a goal and an assist in the series-clinching victory was trade deadline acquisition Andrew Copp.

Currently sitting at six goals and 12 points through 14 playoff games with the Rangers, Copp has already out-produced his postseason goal total over seven years with Winnipeg. Having suited up in 34 playoff games with the Jets, Copp had just three goals and 12 points.

In a contract year and having had both of his prior contracts go to salary arbitration, Copp put up sensational numbers in 2021-22 in advance of the trade deadline.

Making $3.64 million this season, the 27-year-old scored 13 times and added another 22 assists for 35 points in 56 games with Winnipeg. He was dealt to New York at the eleventh hour, in a trade that saw him reconvene with former teammate and friend Jacob Trouba on the Rangers.

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Winnipeg’s return was that of prospect Morgan Barron, two conditional second round selections and a 2023 fifth rounder.

Based on his team’s strong playoff production paired with his ability to stay healthy, the condition in the trade has since been met, and the 2022 second round pick sent to Winnipeg has been upgraded to a first rounder for use in July.

With Andrew Copp having skated in 14 games (of a maximum 28) and the New York Rangers moving on to the Eastern Conference Final, the Winnipeg Jets have turned New York's second round pick (2022 NHL Draft) into a first round selection.

It will be either 29, 30, 31, or 32 overall.

— Carter Brooks (@CBrooksie84) May 31, 2022

Officially, if New York advanced to the Eastern Conference Final and Copp skated in at minimum half of his club’s postseason games, that 2022 second round pick would become the Rangers’ 2022 first round pick at the upcoming draft.

That happened on Monday night, and everyone – Copp included – knew about it.

“They’ve certainly all fit in well and used extremely well by TURK, and we are certainly thrilled to have them all,” Rangers’ general manager Chris Drury said of his team’s trade deadline acquisitions. “I did come down after the game last night, I was going around and seeing the players. Copper looked up at me and said, ‘sorry about your first’, which is no problem at all as you know.”

Alongside Copp, Drury added Frank Vatrano, Tyler Motte and Justin Braun to the lineup at the trade deadline, thus helping his team’s push for the postseason.

“You guys see it everywhere and I know our players say it, but there certainly has been no quit throughout the season,” Drury added. “In both series to be able to come back, win some games on the road, take care of games in our building — a resilient bunch that really has had no quit from day one.”

Drury, who also brought in Barclay Goodrow, Ryan Reaves and Sammy Blais prior to the start of the season, is clearly all for immediate results, so the sacrifice of a few draft picks – including the first rounder sent to Winnipeg – will be worth it if is club can find a way to get past the always playoff-dominant Lightning.

“They’ve all contributed,”  he continued. “I think our scouts and staff did a great job identifying those guys as targets and we were fortunate enough to pull off the deals to get them. They’ll be plenty of time for those kind of questions after it’s all over.”

But next up for Drury after the postseason will be signing some of this key players on expiring contracts to new deals. Andrew Copp will certainly be at the top of his list, alongside that of Ryan Strome.

In Winnipeg, Kevin Cheveldayoff will be laughing all the way to the podium in Montreal, as he makes his two selections in the coming draft. Thanks to the draft lottery, the Jets will be picking 14th with their original selection, while the acquired pick from New York with be either 29, 30, 31, or 32 overall, based on how the team does within the next month.

For now, Jets fans can choose to wish Andrew Copp, Jacob Trouba and the Rangers luck in hopes of capturing a Stanley Cup, or they attempt to smite the team with bad luck in the third round, causing an early exit from the Conference Final and a slightly lower first round selection.

Time will tell.