Here are today’s news and links:

Rangers News:

• Vincent Mercogliano discusses the latest on the league’s return to play plan (LoHud)
• Frank Curto looks back on the first calendar year of Artemiy Panarin’s career on Broadway (Empire Sports Media)
• Steve Paulus examines the recent history of first overall selections in the NHL Entry Draft and what it means for the Blueshirts (Blue Line Station)
• Ed Stein suggests that the team should focus on knocking off the Carolina Hurricanes rather than the 12.5% chance of being awarded the right to select Alexis Lafreniere (Empire Writes Back)/

Around the NHL:

• Sam McCaig lists the top UFA signing of each July 1st since 2010 (The Hockey News)
• Frank Seravalli takes a look at the top 50 pending unrestricted free agents that were set to hit the market this summer prior to the coronavirus pandemic (TSN)
• Rick Dudley’s contract was not renewed, so he left his position as Carolina’s senior vice president of hockey operations (Sportsnet)/