BUFFALO — He might be at the front of the line with the No. 1-overall pick at the NHL draft on June 21, but rest assured Devils general manager Ray Shero knows the Rangers are not just another team picking at No. 2.

“With us, the thing with New York and New Jersey is that we need rivalries,” Shero told the league’s website on the eve of prospects meeting with the media at the NHL Scouting Combine on Friday. “Our brand is to be relevant, and that’s what we want to do. The fact is, the Rangers are picking second, they’re just across the Hudson River, and what the heck’s wrong with that?

“Hopefully both teams get really good players. And we all know that one player can’t carry a team.”

The top two picks, American center Jack Hughes and Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko, are pretty much a consensus. So whomever Shero picks is not only going to affect the future of his organization, but the future of the Rangers, as well. And the two players will be indelibly linked for as long as they play in the same market.

Shero already shocked some people when he had the No. 1 pick in 2017, taking Nico Hischier instead of Nolan Patrick. So far, that appears to be a good choice.

As far as possibly trading the pick, that would take quite the boatload in return and no GM has reached out just yet.

“I haven’t got any of that,” Shero said. “I think it’s early in the process too. It’s not surprising. I think it was the same case two years ago — maybe after the combine, the week of the draft there were some. But everyone’s trying to keep it confidential.”

From the Rangers’ perspective, they know whomever Shero decides to take, they still are getting a good player. Both Hughes and Kakko played in the world championships that ended Sunday night in Slovakia. Kakko went home with his gold medal and decided to skip the combine, while Hughes interviewed with the Devils on Wednesday, but both players are known commodities at this point.

What remains to be seen is which team gets which player, and it’s on Shero to decide.

“Whatever happens,” Shero said, “we know we’re going to get a good player.”