Not much prospect action in the past few days but let’s recap the key Rangers prospects up to the start of February anyway.

Offensively, many Rangers prospects are having excellent seasons. Led by Christian Thomas’ 60 points for Oshawa, five Rangers prospects are averaging over a point per game so far this season. Whether it be Roman Horak in the WHL, Ryan Bourque in the QMJHL, Carl Hagelin of Michigan (NCAA) or Ethan Werek (despite missing time with injuries) in the OHL, along with Thomas, all five prospects have stayed above the point/game mark all season long which is testament to both their talent and their solid seasons thus far. The biggest concern coming out of the five leading scorers may be Horak and Werek being comfortably in the minus – in addition to the numerous injuries that have plagued the prospects all season long. On the injury front Andrew Yogan has yet to play this year, Werek and goalie Scott Stajcer have missed significant time through injury as have 2010 first round pick Dylan Mcilrath and draftee Randy McNaught. In Mcilrath’s case, he has come back strong from the injury and looks to be having a solid year with Moose jaw of the WHL.

Pleasant surprises this year? It has to begin with the arrival onto the world scene of Swedish winger Jesper Fasth who many knew little of, but who now must be considered a legitimate prospect following his excellent World Junior performance. Then there is Max Campbell in the NCAA who no one – prior to this year – gave a chance for a Rangers contract but who, at the very least, has played his way back into relevance with his strong year at Western Michigan. Other players who have given reason for optimism include recent draft pick Jason Wilson who plays a physical game but who is showing he can contribute offensively too. He is a strong likelihood at this stage for Connecticut next year; hopefully adding to the good young depth on offer at the Whale for 2011/12.

Disappointments have to include Chris Kreider even if the word disappointment is harsh. Measured against his own extremely high standards set last year Kreider had a so-so WJC until the final game for USA (although that in itself is maybe clutch). In addition to that his season at Boston College, while improving hasn’t been what many had hoped. Physically ready for the pro’s now, the hope is that Kreider has a very strong end to his year to convince people of his readiness. Given the buzz around him, there’s no telling where Kreider may begin next year even though the sensible answer may be Connecticut or even another year in college.

At this stage of the year, one of the concerns (seemingly a regular thing in recent times) may be the lack of goaltending prospects in the pipeline. While the Rangers are well set (to say the least) for the future with Lundqvist in net it never hurts to have depth and the San Jose Sharks have shown how developing goalies can turn into other assets down the road. With Scott Stajcer missing a large part of the season there is no Rangers owned goalie playing high level junior or college. While Chad Johnson and Cam Talbot are doing well in the AHL it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rangers draft another goalie this summer as more and more the drafting of Antoine Lafleur is looking like a good pick wasted.

We’ll look at the Prospects again next week.

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