Rangers beef up on blue line to help key area of need on NHL draft Day 2

The left side of the Rangers defensive depth chart was heavily reinforced during the second day of the NHL draft Saturday. Five of the Blueshirts’ nine total draft picks this weekend were left-shot blueliners who will bolster the organization’s thin collection of defensive prospects.After taking Alberts Smits on Friday’s Day 1, the Rangers took four more at the same position throughout Day 2.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mollie Walker about the inside buzz on the Rangers.

Capping the second round by taking Benjamin MacBeath at No.64 out of the Western Hockey League, the Rangers also selected Charlie Morrison 77th overall from the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League. “Obviously, I feel a lot of emotions,” MacBeath said in a Zoom call.

“It’s a lot of stress leading up to it, but I mean, to be drafted by the kind of organization like the Rangers, it’s such a relief and it’s awesome to get to spend that time with my family after.It’s been great.” The 18-year-old MacBeath is headed to play for three-time NCAA champion coach David Carle at the University of Denver next season.

Committed to the Pioneers since he was 15, MacBeath highlighted the elite coaching staff, winning culture and proximity to his family as reasons for choosing the NCAA route. Describing himself as a two-way defenseman, MacBeath touted his ability to move up and down the ice and join the rush.He said he looks to create shooting lanes on the blue line and can close spaces quickly with his edges. Rangers director of player personnel and amateur scouting John Lilley cited the department’s best-available-player philosophy for the influx of left-handed defensemen. “Sometimes it’s just the way the list falls,” Lilley said.

“This year it certainly seemed a little D-heavy anyway.And we ended up with those left-shot ‘D,’ but it was the way the list went and to deviate from it, and jump six, sev...