NHL

Rangers nab forward in draft

ST. PAUL — When the Rangers mounted the podium at the XCEL Energy Center to make their first selection in tonight’s NHL Entry Draft, management personnel were accompanied by Aaron Boogaard, the younger brother of the late Derek Boogaard, the Blueshirts’ winger who died of the age of 28 at his apartment in Minneapolis on May 13.

And it was Aaron Boogaard, introduced at the podium by director of player personnel Gordie Clark, who announced the 15th overall pick as Jonathan (JT) Miller, the Ohio born center/left wing who will enter North Dakota as a freshman this fall.

Miller, 6-foot-1 and 198 pounds, led Team USA in scoring in the Under-18 World Championships in which the Yanks captured the Gold Medal.

Derek Boogaard, whose death was found to be accidental and caused by a mixture of alcohol and oxycodone by the medical examiners performing his autopsy, played one season for the Blueshirts after spending the first five seasons of his career with the Wild, where he established himself as a fan favorite.

A professional at the minor league level, Aaron Boogaard, who, with his brother Ryan discovered Derek’s body that tragic night, was a 2004 draft selection by the Wild.

The Boogaards’ father, Len Boogaard, watched the draft from the Rangers’ suite.

The Devils selected Swedish defenseman Adam Larsson with the fourth-overall pick while the Islanders selected Niagara (OHL) center Ryan Strome at No. 5.

Red Deer (WHL) center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins went first overall to Edmonton while Kitchener (OHL) winger Gabriel Landeskog went next to Colorado and Saint John (OHL) forward Jonathan Huberdeau was selected third by the Panthers.

larry.brooks@nypost.com