There’s been a lot of talk from people (me included) that the New York Rangers prospect development is terrible and will forever impact their ability to develop young players. Years of failed prospect after failed prospect have made it incredibly difficult to argue otherwise. While I would never argue the Rangers are *good* at developing young talent, I do believe just how bad the Rangers prospect development is has been grossly overblown.
The argument certainly must start with Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere. The second and first overall picks in their respective drafts, Kakko and Lafreniere have not popped in the NHL like they were expected based on their pre-NHL scouting reports and draft statuses. Kakko is now a member of the Seattle Kraken after a tumultuous tenure with the Rangers, while Lafreniere did earn a large contract with the Rangers after an awesome 2024 postseason, only to regress afterwards.
These two players are where the majority of my frustration with Rangers prospect development lies. Kakko grossly needed time in the AHL to learn how to utilize his body and adapt to the smaller rinks, while Lafreniere needed positivity and ice time. Neither benefited from the overhype created by both the Rangers and social media. Neither were afforded the opportunities they needed. And neither developed the way they were expected to. Note, I said expected to, not should have.
There’s been little to no griping that Kakko and Lafreniere have enormous, untapped potential. Sure, Kakko improved with the Kraken, but not by a lot despite a lot more opportunity. There’s little to no one who expects Lafreniere to turn into an 80-point scorer in a different organization. Is this really a problem with Rangers prospect development? Or ws there something else?
This is where I have come around to believe everything has been overblown. I believe the issue is not a Rangers prospect development issue, but rather a drafting issue that happened to coincide with two weird drafts. Kakko and Lafreniere may have been the unanimous picks in their respective drafts, but that did not guarantee either would be stars. There have been plenty of disappointments before, and both happened to go to the Rangers. Sometimes the top picks in a draft just aren’t generational talents, despite what that hype machine said.
While you could argue Lafreniere may have developed better with more opportunity early in his career, it’s incredibly difficult to see that causing a 25+ points a season jump. Maybe with some powerplay time, as others have said, but what is the ripple effect of adding Lafreniere and removing (likely) Ryan Strome and Vincent Trocheck from the bumper roles they fill(ed)?
What’s more realistic is neither player was quite as good as their draft statuses, and the Rangers suffered because of that. It makes a lot more logical sense than the Rangers breaking all-world prospects. Sometimes it’s not a Rangers prospect development issue, but just that the players were not as generational as made out to be.
Next, you look at the other high draft picks the Rangers failed to develop. Lias Andersson had zero potential. Vitali Kravtsov cannot make an NHL roster. Brennan Othmann is a work in progress who quite simply looks like a poor draft pick. Are these Rangers prospect development issues? Or were they just bad picks?
On the other side, you have Nils Lundkvist traded for a first round draft pick, which was tremendous value. Will Cuylle and Braden Schneider are success stories on the current roster. K’Andre Miller developed well and put together a fine career before being traded for a haul. Filip Chytil did fine for a 21st overall pick and there’s a strong argument that he’d still be in New York if not for the injuries. Even Adam Edstrom, Brett Berard, and Matt Rempe were finds in the later rounds.
Has the Rangers prospect development process been perfect? Absolutely not. But the Rangers have done fine developing players from draft picks to NHL players. That’s all you can ask for from your organization. Perhaps the drafting could be better, but the talk of the Rangers being a disastrous organization to develop young players is highly overblown.
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