New York Rangers Prospect Rankings: Who’s number one?

Who’s the Rangers’ top prospect?

Ranking the top prospects in the New York Rangers’ system is a difficult task. New York does not boast a strong system due to many years of trading top picks for win-now players. Now, the team is suffering for their years of going for it. That being said, New York did make an effort to increase their prospect pool this summer, drafting twice in the first round.

10 of Blue Line Station’s writers got together and ranked the top 10 prospects in New York’s system. We averaged out the 10 rankings to come to a top 10 as a group. Admittedly, there are some surprises here. There are some players one would expect to see who did not make the cut, and some players ranked higher than expected.

That being said, that there was as much diversity in the order of the rankings speaks to the fact that the Rangers have enough prospects to be excited about.

Without further adieu, the top 10.

**NOTE: Any players with ANY NHL games played were not eligible to enter these rankings.*

10. Ryan Gropp

Written by Logan Clements

Ryan Gropp was selected in the 2nd round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft (the pick the Rangers got in the Carl Hagelin Trade). Ryan Gropp was a prospect that originally seemed like he could be fighting for an NHL roster spot by the 2017 or 2018 season.

However, Ryan Gropp has largely been a disappointment. The original plan was to have him play for the Hartford Wolfpack in 2016, but he was not able to make the AHL team. This is extremely concerning considering that the Wolfpack finished in dead last this past season.

Ryan Gropp has a shot that is “NHL Caliber” and it is his greatest asset. He also has size, which most NHL scouts love, and he possesses tremendous speed. The problem is that he has poor hockey IQ and has a hard time generating offense on his own.

Playing him with a quality playmaker like the Seattle Thunderbirds did can help him generate offense but overall, the trends aren’t positive for Gropp. He isn’t a well-rounded player and he isn’t producing points like a CHL player with an NHL future at his age should.

Gropp makes the top ten mainly because if he can become a more well-rounded player who is less dependent on a playmaker, he can be a quality middle-six player. There is a ton of work to be done with Gropp in the future to get him to live up to his potential.

It should be noted that this season is a critical season for Gropp and another poor season will likely have his ranking plummet with the Rangers’ prospect pool getting better with each passing season.

#8. Ryan Graves

Written by Drew McCaffrey

One New York Rangers prospect who has risen from obscurity is the hulking Ryan Graves.

Originally a 2013 fourth-round pick with a perceived limited NHL ceiling, Graves has made tremendous strides in recent years.

After a mostly lackluster junior hockey career in which he was traded twice, Graves blossomed upon joining the AHL. As a rookie in Hartford, Graves made the 2016 AHL All-Star Game.

The early knock against him was typical for big defensemen (Graves is 6’4”, 220): his skating needed huge improvements. But unlike many such prospects, Graves did make those improvements and translated his game well to the professional rink.

While not fleet of foot by any means, Graves is nonetheless a competent skater and has knack for maintaining good gaps and angles. His positional play makes up for lack of speed. This growth has led to him playing important shutdown minutes for Hartford.

Perhaps most promising, however, is the evolution of Graves’ offensive game. He’s put up respectable numbers in the AHL, and possesses a veritable cannon for a slapshot. During the 2016 All-Star skills competition, Graves recorded a 103.4 MPH shot, winning the event.

With an improved defensive prospect group, Graves drops down the rankings. Nonetheless, he projects to be at worst a competent third-pair defenseman in the NHL. If the right pieces fall into place, he could even find himself on the second pair.

#7. Adam Huska

Written by Alexandra Russo

Adam Huska is a name that has risen to the surface over the past few months when discussing the New York Rangers’ prospects. And for good reason, too. He deserves all the praise he’s been getting for the way he’s played as of late.

The 19 year old from Slovenia is currently playing with the University of Connecticut. His 6’3″ stature allows him to see many shots, which helps his stats be exactly where he needs them to be to compete against other big prospect names.

Since the 2014-2015, Huska’s GAA has gone down from 3.66 to 2.87 in 2016-2017. And his save percentage has gone up in the same amount of time from .900% to .916%.

He shined most in the 2016 Playoffs where he posted a remarkable 2.66 GAA and .901 SV%. That was also his best season, as he posted a 1.82 GAA in 37 games played. It was also his longest season, making it even more impressive.

While only time will tell where Huska will end up, he’s doing well enough right now to put him in solid competition with players such as Igor Shestyorkin and Brandon Halverson. For the next few seasons, he remains in college to be seasoned for the big leagues some day.

6. Alexei Bereglazov

Written by Justin Starr

Coming in as the sixth ranked prospect is defensemen Alexei Bereglazov. The 23-year-old left handed defensemen just ended his third season in the Kontinental Hockey League with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. The Russian defensemen might be one of the only prospects on this list that you could see this season in the New York Rangers lineup.

When Bereglazov signed his contract with the Rangers, they included an out-clause in it. If he doesn’t make the Rangers roster, he has the option of opting out of his contract. If the Rangers want him to start in the AHL, he can decide to go back to the KHL.

Bereglazov already has professional experience and playoff experience under his belt from his play in the KHL. He lacks experience on the smaller North American rinks though and in which he will need to adjust. Last season, he totaled one goal and 18 assists for Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

Bereglazov isn’t the defensemen that will be bringing in points on a daily basis. He is a big body (6’4”) that shuts down opposing forwards and uses his size well. Since he does have his out-clause, I would expect him to slot in to the 7th defensemen spot on the Rangers roster this season. If not, he could decide that he wants to head back over to the KHL. If that’s the case, the Rangers just lost their sixth ranked prospect before even getting to enjoy him.

5. Neal Pionk

Written by Dan Carrozzi-

At the beginning of the off-season the Rangers made a sneaky good move by signing top college undrafted free agent Neal Pionk off of his sophomore year at the University of Minnestoa-Duluth. The fact that Pionk immediately jumps into the top-5 among Rangers prospects does speak more to his abilities than the weakness in the Rangers’ pipeline.

Pionk is a right shot, offensive defensemen who played in one of the most competitive NCAA conferences, the NCHC. Pionk had a solid freshman campaign, scoring four goals and totaling 17 points overall in 40 games. Then he exploded his sophomore year, doubling his point total and increasing his goal total to seven, over 42 games.

His 34 points were second in the conference for defenseman, only trailing highly sought after Will Butcher who had 37. He especially made his presence known on the powerplay, scoring four of his goals and 19 of his points on the man advantage.

Pionk showed growth in his defensive game as well, cutting his penalty minutes down from 44 to 25 from his freshman to sophomore seasons.

Pionk likely remained undrafted due to his size, being 5’ 11” and roughly 180lbs. Ironically, despite his size, his shot is one of his best assets. Additionally, his talent is the reason he will be able to step into pro hockey right away.

Expect Pionk to take at least half a season (like Ryan McDonagh) or even a full season (like Brady Skjei) in the AHL to fine tune his game and acclimate to professional hockey life.

Stats via NCHC hockey.

4. Sean Day

Written by Brandon Cohen

Here’s a fun fact about this article. When averaging out the entries for the top 10, I learned I was the only one of the 10 writers to place Sean Day in the top three. I did so at the expense of Lias Andersson, despite believing Andersson is a tremendous prospect. Anyway, which writer got which player was done using a randomizer tool. I happened to get Day. It’s fate!

I like playing the potential game. That’s Sean Day’s game.

Sean Day was taken in the third round, a time when teams could take chances. Day was not your prototypical “safe” pick, given that he fell to the third round. Day was allowed to start junior hockey at the age of 15, becoming the fourth player allowed to do so. The other three? John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, and Connor McDavid.

Day went through personal issues and issues regarding the pressure surrounding him. Yet once he got drafted, Day became the player that most suspected he could be. A Memorial Cup Champion, last season Day tallied 32 points in 58 games for the Windsor Spitfires. Day was unleashed as a two-way defenseman, and rewarded his team with steady, impressive play.

The sky is the limit as the youngster continues to develop into a future NHL player. Once one of the most exciting prospect names out there, look for Day to continue to near that status once again, unless he reaches the NHL first.

3. Lias Andersson

Written by Josh Lipman

The Rangers used the seventh overall pick this summer to draft Lias Andersson. He plays a hard-nosed, two-way game and could potentially slot in at either center or wing. Though not the flashiest player, Andersson drives to the net and boasts an impressive shot.

Like fellow first round Ranger draftee Filip Chytil, Andersson spent all of 2016-17 playing against men. Andersson potted 19 points in 42 games, which compares favorably to the draft years of other recent highly touted Swedes like Filip Forsberg (17 in 43) and Nicklas Bäckström (26 in 46).

The young Swedish pivot draws a lot of comparisons to Chris Drury and occasionally Patrice Bergeron. The big question facing Andersson is whether he can reach the offensive level of a prime Bergeron or if he’ll settle in as a 40 point player.

The difference between Andersson and Chytil comes down to immediate versus long-term potential. Scouts expect Andersson to make a very quick leap to the NHL, possibly as early as this season, but view him as a second liner at best.

On the other hand, Chytil, who is 11 months younger than Andersson, probably won’t see the NHL for a few seasons but has greater raw talent than Andersson.

Andersson fell a hair below Chytil in our voting thanks to a preference for ceiling over safety. Regardless, their combined presence gives the Ranger system a direly needed boost at the center position.

2. Filip Chytil

Written by Lou Venditti

When the New York Rangers used the 21st overall pick last year on Filip Chytil, it took some convincing to see why the 17-year-old center was worth a first round pick. Initially, it was believed that the Rangers had taken a big risk, and reached for Chytil instead of trading back to pick him later. However, Chytil was well worth the 21st overall pick, and he could be the future of the Rangers.

Chytil is incredible for his age. He played in the Czech Extraliiga, the highest Czech professional league, for HC Zlin last season. Primarily placed in a shutdown role on the third and fourth line, Chytil only scored four goals and four assists over 38 games, but proved vital on the defensive end for HC Zlin.

Following his professional performance, Chytil scored two goals and three assists in five games with the Czech U-18 team during with World Juniors U-18 tournament. He then followed that with six goals and seven assists in 19 games during U18 international play. Chytil also put on a show during development camp, scoring two goals and developing strong chemistry with fellow first round pick Lias Andersson.

While his future looks incredibly bright, it’s important to realize that Chytil is only 17-years-old, and it may be a couple years before he makes it to the NHL. During the coming season, Chytil will either stay in Europe to develop, or come across the pond and play in the AHL with the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Chytil is demonstrably the best skating prospect the Rangers have in their system.

1. Igor Shestyorkin

Written by David Bruce

The young Russian just finished his first season as SKA’s starting goalie, in which he went 27-4-6 with a 1.64 GAA and a .937 save percentage. This, all being done in what is arguably the most competitive league outside of the NHL. Despite being on a top team, Shestyorkin was a big reason for many of their wins.

During his first season as SKA’s starter, Shestyorkin set the team record for longest shutout streak at 272 minutes, 8 seconds. The streak consisted of four shutout wins. Again, though SKA was the best team in the league, none of these shutouts were easily attained, which speaks to how good he plays his position.

Sublimely quick, Shestyorkin is the polar opposite of Henrik Lundqvist stylistically. He relies heavily on reflexes and athleticism to make saves, rather than positional soundness. This makes Shestyorkin similar in style to the more mobile goalies in NHL history, like Dominik Hasek and Tim Thomas.

Next: Five all time greats who were almost Rangers

Benoit Allaire will likely have to tighten up Igor’s game a little, but his talent alone is enough to make him a great goalie in the NHL. So long as he comes to North America, Shestyorkin is a near lock to be a quality NHL player.