draft

Before we know it, the NHL draft will be here beginning the next season of New York Rangers hockey. There are a lot of question marks surrounding the organization, ranging from the eventual playoffs, to the future personnel choices, to new prospects joining the organization.

The Rangers are expected to be big players in the college UFA market considering that many of their players in the AHL have expiring contracts.  There is a very talented forwards, with Ahti Oksanen and Drake Caggiula leading the pack. There are also three puck moving defensemen in Ethan Prow, Casey Nelson, and Troy Stecher going on the market, and hopefully the Rangers can nab a few of them.

The other way the Rangers will add youth into the system is through the draft, something which has been difficult to get excited about due to the lack of first round picks. However, I personally love trying to find talent in the mid and late rounds.

According to generalfanager.com, the Rangers have five picks in the upcoming draft, all in the last five rounds. Let’s just put this out there right now, there is no way that doesn’t change by June, as the club always makes moves at the draft. Although obviously most talent is perceived to be found in the first two rounds, the Rangers have done well finding value in later picks. You can read a lot about the value of draft picks in this paper (a great read), but essentially it says to try to get as many picks as you can.

The Rangers are known as one of the teams that love trading down to get extra picks so as mentioned above, we should expect them to end up with at least an extra pick. Considering their success in late rounds and that they’ve traded a bunch of picks already, the Rangers must stock up on picks, preferably in the mid rounds, as there are always prospects that slide due to “attitude” or “size” issues. News flash: 17 year olds can grow and mature. Shocking.

The later rounds are when a team like the Rangers, lacking in legitimately talented prospects, should swing for the fences for skill over size. Depth can be filled out via undrafted free agents. This draft isn’t incredible, but there are a few guys who we can definitely imagine dropping and hopefully for the organization to the Rangers.

Samuel Girard- At 5’10”, Girard’s size may mean he slips, but his size is irrelevant. Samuel Girard is one of the most efficient point producing defensemen and skaters in this draft. At just 17 years old, his vision is incredible, he has a quick shot, and is a smooth skater. He is the epitome not only of an offensive defenseman, but of the new age defensemen that will be filling the NHL up. Girard is not soft in his own end. He is willing to use his body and he uses his exceptional skating to get great body positioning on his opposition.

Girard will probably fall due to size. That is almost expected, but the fact that a defenseman who has 74 points isn’t ranked in the first round is pretty ridiculous. The more he gets passed over, the more his value sky rockets in terms of risk/reward. Girard has the potential to be a powerplay quarterback that is available in the mid-rounds. When was the last time the Rangers developed their own PP QB?

Dmitri Sokolov- The Sudbury Wolves center is one of my favorite prospects in the draft for a few reasons. First of all, he oozes talent, he is a wonderful playmaker that can both make pretty passes on the rush and off of the cycle. He also has a quick shot that while he should still use more it is definitely one of his strengths. To put it simply he is one of those players that can produce simply because of his talent.

Draft Trend

That said, he needs to work on being a faster skater and overall physical fitness according to some scouts. This obviously leads to the notion that he is a lazy player and struggles in the defensive zone, which is partially true. He is certainly a high risk/high reward type of player if he can match his effort to his skill. The Rangers have taken similar risks before that worked out, so I find it hard to believe that they wont try again with Sokolov. He has 52 points in 68 games on a bad team, which is pretty good for a possible mid round add. He has also been a fairly consistent producer over the course of the season something, from the draft trend chart above. That bodes well as he isn’t experiencing a huge point boost over plays against depleted teams or teams still tinkering with the lineup.

Noah Gregor- I mentioned Gregor earlier in the year but as this season progresses so does he. His skating is absolutely incredible and is becoming such a crucial fixture in his game that you can imagine that he will go as far as his skating skill takes him. While he plays center, he is at an average height and seems like he will end up also being a possibly successful player on the wing.

Draft Trend (1)

He is over a point per game this season, which is awesome for a draft year and is expected to go in around the third round. To be honest I can see him making a Hagelin-like impact for a team if he makes the NHL. He is a very Ranger pick as he is an average size forward playing in the WHL, a league that the rangers have been dipping their hand in a lot lately under Clarke.

Andrew Peeke- Peeke is a very Ranger pick. I will find it hard to believe if the Rangers actually pass up on him if he is available when they pick.

American? Check.

Big? Check (6’3″).

Can skate well? Check

Physical? Getting there…

Draft Trend (2)

Peeke is a right handed mobile defenseman that has his game revolve around his skating ability. Once again this is a perfect defenseman for the new age NHL. While he is a smooth skater, he isn’t a super fast skater as his acceleration isn’t like Ryan McDonagh. However, he does use his skating to defend well and close off angles. He has a nice accurate shot, but doesn’t use it often, preferring to be a puck distributor. So hey… perfect fit for the Rangers.

 

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