HF: Rangers have #27 farm system

HockeysFuture has released this year’s organization farm system rankings, and the Rangers have slipped from #17 last year to #27 this year. They note that strengths are prospects with intriguing NHL potential at forward and defense, and some high-risk, high-reward prospects (Anthony Duclair, Pavel Buchnevich). Weaknesses are mostly depth related, since the club has graduated a large number of prospects to the NHL level, especially at defense. The note goaltending as an issue, but it should be made clear that Cam Talbot does not qualify as a prospect anymore (by HF standards) due to his age.

I tend to agree with what HF has said, especially since we all have a habit of overvaluing prospects for the teams we root for. That said, the biggest weakness (aside from blue line depth) is the lack of “star” power. Chris Kreider’s stock has taken a hit, but it doesn’t matter since he will graduate this year anyway. Kristo is the only bonafide top-six forward prospect. Others are all bottom-six material. Of course, many teams would kill to have this problem, since the Rangers have a very young team at the NHL level, and have the time to restock the farm.