With their fifth round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, the Rangers took forward Evan Vierling. This pick was acquired by trading a pair of 7th rounders to San Jose to move up. The trade itself was great value, and the Rangers went for major upside. The scouting report on Evan Vierling is an extremely talented center who struggled since his OHL Draft year, but has found a good home in Barrie.
This season, center put up 12-22-34 in 28 games with Barrie after being traded there midseason. He was traded there by Flint, an atrocious team, and as mentioned, Vierling has found a home and is getting his game back in order.
It’s worth noting that I am no draft expert. I did a lot of Googling and Youtubing. You should be checking out sites like Future Considerations, Elite Prospects, Dobber Hockey, and others on Twitter (@SternScouting, @aj_ranger, @ManUtdTobbe, and I’m sure I missed a bunch).
Scouting Report
Vierling was the second overall pick in the 2018 OHL Draft, so he’s got a ton of skill. He’s also got borderling elite level skating with high-end top speed and acceleration. This makes him very dangerous in all situations, but especially on the rush and in the cycle game.
Vierling excels with puck protection, passing, and vision. These tools make reads and anticipation easy. It also means fewer mental mistakes and bad turnovers. However it does make him a little predictable, as he doesn’t look to shoot that often. His shot is good as well, with accuracy and a quick release. He will need to shoot more to add some unpredictability to his game.
The combination of vision, skating, and passing also makes him dangerous defensively. Vierling reads the play well to create turnovers and transition the play the other way.
Vierling fell because of his lack of production in his early years. This is expected, but also a win for the Rangers. Vierling is very talented, and if he just needed a change of scenery, then this is a homerun pick for them.
Another thing to note is he will need to put on some muscle, but as with 99% of 18 year olds out there, that’s expected.
Projections
Vierling isn’t going to get to the AHL for another two seasons, after he turns 20 years old. That’s just a product of the CHL/NHL agreement. The scouting report on Evan Vierling suggests he could be a sleeper pick for the Rangers. It looks like he had first round talent without the production until his trade. He does need to get a proper strength coach to hit that next level, but that shouldn’t be a problem at the next level.
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