With the Rangers doing so well in 2005-06, expectations were raised for the 2006-07 season, evidenced by Sports Illustrated then predicting the Rangers would finish first in their division. Realizing that the team had trouble scoring goals in the 2005-06 campaign, the Rangers went out and signed long-time Red Wing Brendan Shanahan to a one-year contract. However, the organization remains committed to its rebuilding program despite the signing of the 37-year-old winger. Though the Rangers started a bit slow in the first half of the 2006-07 season, the second half was dominated by the stellar goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist. The acquisition of Sean Avery brought new life to the team, and the Rangers finished ahead of Tampa Bay and the Islanders to face Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs. The Rangers swept the series thanks to play from all around the ice. However, the Rangers lost the next round to Buffalo four games to two in a hard-fought series. At the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, the Rangers chose Alexei Cherepanov 17th overall. Cherepanov had been ranked by Central Scouting as the number one European skater and was considered to be a top five pick leading up to the draft, but fell due to teams being unsure whether he would ever come to the NHL from Russia. The 2007 free agency season started with a bang for the Rangers signing two high profile centerman, Scott Gomez from the New Jersey Devils for a seven year, $51.5 million dollar contract as well as Chris Drury from the Buffalo Sabres for a five year deal worth $32.25 million. The moves, along with retaining most other key players, have been met favorably as the Rangers appear to be strong Stanley Cup contenders.