from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

You know what it will be Thursday at the Garden leading into the 2019-20 season opener against the Jets of Kevin Hayes … er, Jacob Trouba … uh, Tyler Myers … well, then, Dustin Byfuglien? Ah, you get the point. It will be Christmas in October in Rangerstown. And why not?

Put aside the concerns about the second-line center spot or your questions about the defense. Stop obsessing over how much money in dead space the Rangers will carry next season in the aftermath of the Kevin Shattenkirk buyout. For a few hours, at least, stop fretting over the fact Filip Chytil and Vitali Kravtsov will need more time to apprentice before entrusted with assignments on Broadway.

It is Opening Night and Artemi Panarin is in a Blueshirt, so is Trouba, and perhaps even more fundamental than that, so is Kaapo Kakko. The last time a Rangers’ second-overall draft selection made his NHL debut was Oct. 23, 1968, when Brad Park of the draft class of ’66 was a minus-1 against the Oakland Seals. The last time a Rangers’ second-overall played on Opening Night was never.

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