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New York Rangers Prospect Rankings 35-29
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We are officially in the dog days of summer. As Rangers’ fans, we have nothing to talk about except how we differ by $250K on Mika Zibanejad’s future contract, so a good use of time would seem to be ranking the Rangers’ prospect pool. A little bit of a forward though, I will not be considering Anthony Deangelo or Pavel Buchnevich in the prospect pool as they are no longer ‘rookies’. But I will probably talk about them when we get to the top of the rankings. There is a lot that we can talk about for each prospect and while some seem to be on the verge of striking out as NHL guys, they may still have value to the organization by being good depth AHLers.
35. Adam Chapie (RW, 26, 6’1, 185 lbs)
Scouting Alex Georgiev
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When teams invite players to their prospect development camp, it is rare to expect much from the players. After all they went undrafted, and usually for a feasible reason. But there was one name that stood out on this year’s list. Alexander Georgiev, a talented goalie prospect in Liiga was among the invites for the Rangers only weeks after they didn’t retain Magnus Hellberg and Mackenzie Skapski. The Rangers signed him late last night.
Georgiev is a name that is known among the European hockey fans, he although Russian, has been playing in the Finnish league to play against pro men since he was 19 years old and over the last 3 years has taken strides in that league along with significant international tournament exposure.
New York Rangers 2017 Draft Recap
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The 2017 NHL Draft has come and gone, with the Rangers making seven picks. They picked just one North American player, with the rest coming from the various European leagues. That’s a bit of a deviation from prior drafts, and likely has to do with the lack of North American talent in this draft. The Rangers also went heavy with the over-agers (20+ year olds), another deviation from the norm. But if there’s one person who has earned the trust of the fans, it’s Gordie Clark. So let’s recap.
First Round (#7) Lias Andersson
Lias Andersson is a really interesting pick. At one end of the spectrum it may be upsetting because he likely doesn’t have that really high potential that we may have wanted after trading Derek Stepan, but he is the kind of player that I think everyone who loves hockey will love him on the Rangers. He does everything well and is known as a super intelligent 200 foot player with a quick release on his shot.
New York Rangers First Round Targets: Forwards
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Last week I covered the potential NYR picks if they decide to go defenseman in the first round. of course, there is the possibility that they want to draft a forward. The interesting thing about the forwards is that all the potential “game breakers” have a glaring issue, whether it be size or injury history. In this post, I will be covering four forwards who have been linked to the Rangers. These forwards do not include centers Lias Andersson, Elias Pettersson, or Nick Suzuki, all of whom would probably be a surprise if they fall this far. Suzuki is projected to go around 12-15, Andersson 14-17, and Pettersson some say can even go top-five. As previously done, I will be listing them in order of my priority.
Klim Kostin (RW, 6’3, 196 lbs)
Kostin is probably one of the most intriguing forwards in the group because he is likely to be available. Originally seen as a potential top-ten pick, Kostin dropped due to a pair of factors. The first is a shoulder injury, and the second is his lack of production in the KHL. To sum him up, Kostin is your big power forward with incredible hands around the net. He loves to be a force and when he causes a commotion he can easily get the puck to a teammate to score. His preferred way to score, though, is to power through the defense and around the goalie to tuck in pucks. He loves to simply dominate a defenseman or two and crash the net.
New York Rangers Round 1 Targets: Defense
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Barring a sale of an unwanted contract to Vegas, it seems likely that the Rangers will hold a first round pick for the first time in five years. There are of course some pessimists who would like to complain that the Rangers hold a first rounder but it is in a “bad draft”. Personally, I think the bad draft narrative is extremely overblown. Most drafts would look weak after McDavid and Matthews but there are still not only really good prospects but awesome depth in this draft.
I think the Rangers may end up like bandits if they can steal a couple of late picks because their value may be so low. Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli even said that this isn’t a good year to have a second or third rounder. I don’t want to pretend that I know more than an NHL general manager but the Rangers could really use more prospects in the system.
In any case, it has been well documented that the Rangers have two glaring needs; puck moving defensemen and game breaking forwards. Today, I will cover some defensemen who might be available in the first round. There are many kinds of defensemen available but I will focus on the 5 who will either be available around the 21st pick or have been “drafted” by the Rangers in mock drafts. In the comment section, post who you would take.
Are the Rangers targeting Czech prospect Radim Simek?
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The Rangers have decided that they want to make their prospect pool to model the United Nation. After signing three NCAA prospects in the spring, the Rangers followed up by signing the highly coveted Alexei Bereglazov from Russia and are believed to be in contention to potentially sign Swedish defenseman Andreas Borgman. I believe that the Rangers may be adding a Czech defenseman in the coming days to the prospect pool as well.
Radim Simek is one of the top Czech defensemen not in the NHL, and at 24 years old he wants to take a chance in North America. It was originally speculated that the San Jose Sharks will be the team that will be able to sign Simek to a contract, which makes sense. Good team, good weather, they have a history of signing good Euros to deals (Rangers should sign Tim Heed away from them this summer), and they have a Czech on the team. Apparently, that all changed a few days ago as seen in this article. Here is the interesting quote thanks to Google translate:
Comparing Zibanejad to Brassard – Playoff edition
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When teams are struggling to score it’s easy to look down a roster and pick off players with the zeros. While Chris Kreider has been nearly invisible this playoff series, I have noticed that Mika Zibanejad has been getting flack. Zibanejad will forever be linked to Big Game Brass, a fan favorite, and during the playoffs it’s easy to be nostalgic. Zibanejad has only one point thus far, while Derick Brassard has five. It’s easy to see the frustration some fans have for Zibanejad, but that’s a very small window for comparison.
Brassard came to the Rangers during his 25 year old season in the NHL. That is already one later than Zibanejad (who is also five years younger), who just turned 24 a few days ago. Before Brassard came to the Rangers he was seen as a risky center with injury history that had been unable to reach his potential with Columbus. The Rangers helped mold Brassard and utilized his skill properly by placing him with the right players. Low and behold, Brassard blossomed in front of our eyes. So why are we so down on Zibanejad?
Where is the Rangers’ killer instinct?
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Photo: Jim McIsaac/Newsday
I spend most of my posts talking about the Rangers’ prospects, but one thing has been eating me alive for the last year and a half. After being blessed by an incredible 2014 team, the New York Rangers seemed poised to become a Stanley Cup contender for the next few years. While I question some decisions made, that 2014 team still had a great 2015 campaign.
But then, all of a sudden, it all just seemed off. There was and still is something missing while watching our boys in blue. For a team that became one of the more successful teams of the decade –with much of it’s core playing more playoff games than most other teams– they seem to be lacking a certain oomph that makes organizations successful. This applies to both the players and the management, for all of the success these men have seen they still seem to have not learned from their experience.
Michael Joly has deserved his contract
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Photo: Francois Laplante/Getty
About a year ago, thanks to some sleuthing, I found out the that the Rangers have signed a prospect I had my eyes on, Michael Joly, to an AHL contract. At the time, I was extremely excited about this. Joly was always a super talented player in the QMJHL, but was plagued with injuries despite a point-per-game pace. There were some other warning signs too. Joly was only 5’11, and although he produced a lot, the QMJHL is seen as an easier league to score in. With that said, Joly is a smart guy, he knew that while his offensive skill is there he would need to improve defensively and over his last season he did that enough to get the AHL deal.
Joly’s season didn’t start off too well and ended up in the ECHL to start the year. In between call ups to Hartford, Joly scored 40 points in 29 games for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. With the Wolf Pack faltering and in desperate need of offense, they called up Joly as he had nothing left to prove in the ECHL. One of the biggest problems for Hartford this season is the structure of the lines, as they do not distribute talented vets in the lineup. The kids end up faltering as a result. But during this 2nd call up, a desperate Hartford gave Joly a chance with AHL star Taylor Beck and the two meshed very well.
Some more NCAA undrafted free agents to keep tabs on
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Earlier this week I looked at a pair of NCAA free agents that the Rangers would be smart to target. Today, let’s take a look at five more.
Mike Vecchione – The first player on the list is Vecchione. Vecchione would be a really interesting add for the Rangers/Wolf Pack. The captain of Union College has been one of the more dynamic centers in the NCAA. Considering the Rangers center depth is certainly lacking at the AHL level, the Hobey Baker finalist can help that out a lot.
Tyler Sheehy – If the Rangers do not sign Vecchione, which is possible seeing how much the Flyers love him, the Rangers should and hopefully will target Tyler Sheehy. Similar to Vecchione, Sheehy is smallish but a dynamic center that has lit the NCAA up while with Minnesota. His 53 points in 31 games are speaking for themselves. At 21 years old, there are rumblings he would like to turn pro. Getting him on an ELC would be a great low-risk move.