BUFFALO, NY - JUNE 25: Sean Day reacts after being selected 81st by the New York Rangers during the 2016 NHL Draft on June 25, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

When the New York Rangers were contending for the Stanley Cup they traded away most of their top draft picks every year. The 2016 draft was a perfect example, but they have completely changed that narrative by making deals.

Going into the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, the New York Rangers had no first or second round pick. Their first round pick went to Arizona in the Keith Yandle deal. Their second round pick went to Carolina for Eric Staal.

The Blueshirts went into the draft with six picks, all in the later rounds. They had one pick in the third, fourth, fifth and seventh rounds and two in the sixth round. Their top pick was defenseman Sean Day, selected 81st overall. With their later picks they grabbed Tarmo Reuanen (#98), Tim Gettinger (#141), Gabriel Fontaine (#171), Tyler Wall (#174) and Ty Ronning (#201).

The good news is that all of those picks are still Rangers prospects though time is running out on a few of them. Defenseman Reuanen is playing in Finland and showed some promise. Goalie Tyler Wall is a Hobey Baker contender and is regarded as one of the best netminders in NCAA hockey. Gettinger, Day, Fontaine and Ronning are all toiling in Hartford.

So, the 2016 draft wasn’t very good for the Rangers was it? Not so fast. With the Joey Keane trade today, here’s a list of the players drafted in 2016 who are now with the Rangers organization.

#21 Julien Gauthier – Carolina Hurricanes

#27 Brett Howden – Tampa Bay Lightning

#37 Libor Hajek – Tampa Bay Lightning

#49 Ryan Lindgren – Boston Bruins

#66 Adam Fox – Calgary Flames

#132 Yegor Rykov – New Jersey Devils

Wow. That’s four NHL players and two top prospects who could see the lights of Broadway as soon as this season.

If Gauthier, Rykov, Reuanen and Wall can make it to the NHL and with Tim Gettinger having already made his NHL debut, that could mean nine NHL players selected in the 2016 draft playing for the New York Rangers.

That number could grow if the rumors about Jordan Kyrou (#35-St. Louis) are true and there are always that speculation about Jesse Puljujarvi (#4 -Edmonton).

So Rangers fans, when you despair about trading away the future while trying to win a Stanley Cup, you can sleep better knowing that they have been able to trade for the future as well.

Oh yeah, those first and second round picks they traded away? They became Dennis Cholowski and Artur Kayumov. I’d take Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren any day of the week.