Are the Rangers prospects lacking opportunity?

via Blueshirts United

When the Rangers get healthy in a couple of weeks their line-up will be set – barring a fresh injury or a dramatic loss of form. The Rangers will be dressing a veteran heavy line-up even though several regulars are still in the young category.

Meanwhile down in the AHL, the Hartford WolfPack has started the season strongly (7-2-1 as of Wednesday) and are being led offensively by a handful of prospects. Among others, Oscar Lindberg, Ryan Haggerty, Danny Kristo, J.T. Miller, Mat Bodie and Jesper Fast are all having productive seasons offensively. Including Haggerty (in his rookie pro season but still with six points in ten games) all of the above are playing consistent hockey and are close to a point per game.

This kind of collective form offers an organisation exactly the kind of problems they want. On the one hand the Rangers don’t have any space for prospects in New York – certainly not in positions where enough ice time is available – but on the other hand they want a steady stream of players knocking on the door putting pressure on the established core. However, a problem starting to develop in the Rangers organization is that several prospects may see their paths blocked in both the short and long term.

A lot of Rangers prospects at the pro level are coming to the age where they need to kick on to the next level. Although young, JT Miller has also been a puzzle for a couple of seasons and no one seems to be able to solve him or find the answer best for his development.

Meanwhile, Oscar Lindberg has built on his strong first year in the AHL however even with a spate of injuries and lack of depth at center in New York he hasn’t (at least publicly) been considered for promotion. Is Oscar Lindberg the next in a line of highly anticipated prospects to fail to make a full time switch to the NHL? Will he return to the safe haven of the Swedish Elite League if his chances to make the NHL are restricted?

The Rangers have a handful of prospects facing the same potential problem as Lindberg. Bourque, Kristo and even a guy such as Jesper Fast are all approaching crossroads in their development. All of them have NHL talent but will they get NHL opportunities? At this stage all these prospects can do is continue to give the Rangers appealing alternatives and keep putting up strong numbers. The rest of this season (and the offseason) could eventually lead to significant change in the Rangers organization.