New York Rangers: A quick analysis of every day two draft pick

The New York Rangers made seven draft picks on the second day of the NHL Entry Draft. Below is quick analysis of each player.

#39: Olof Lindbom, G, Sweden U18

Lindbom was one of the best goaltenders at the U18 international tournament this past year. He posted a 1.66 goals against average and a .948 save percentage.

Lindbom has fantastic instincts, high hockey IQ and is very positionally sound for his age. He seems to be a guy who is right up Benoit Allaire’s ally. The problem with this pick is that it appears to have been a reach. He is very raw at 17 years old and won’t be anywhere close to MSG for at least four or five years.

#70: Jacob Ragnarsson, LHD, Sweden U18

At his worst, Ragnarsson appears to be a 200-foot player, a guy who could hold his own in both ends. At his best, he can be an impactful offensive player for the Rangers in the future. Ragnarsson led all defenders under the age of 20 in his league in goals, assists and points in 2017-18.

He was Central Scouting’s 44th ranked European skater, so the pick was well within a solid range for the Swede. At 6-feet tall, he has solid NHL size, too. He’s probably a few years away — like most of the Rangers’ picks on Saturday — but he may have the most upside of the lot.

#88: Joey Keane, RHD, OHL

Keane checks off a couple of boxes the Rangers said were important to them; speed, skill and character. Keane was an alternate captain for the Barrie Colts last season, where he contributed 12 goals and 44 points in 62 games as their power play quarterback. He has lots of hockey IQ, as well, which definitely is a good thing too.

The two biggest issues with Keane are, firstly, he’s an overager as he’ll turn 19 on July 2. Secondly, for all the good things about his game, it is fair to speculate how much more upside there is here. Anyway, not a bad pick at 88 for a team desperately trying to revamp their defensive prospect pool.

#101: Nick Gross, LHD, OHL

Gross just finished his first season with the Oshawa Generals where he tallied four goals and 10 assists in 58 games. At 6-foot-1 and 185 lbs, he has good size to be an NHL defender, and he can definitely use his size well to deliver crushing hits. He has pretty good wheels and is very calm with the puck.

Like Keane, though, Gross has very little, if any, offensive upside. If everything breaks right, Gross is a third pairing, shut down defender who could play on the penalty kill.

#132: Lauri Pajuniemi, RW, Liliga

An overager, Pajuniemi actually has some offensive upside to be an intriguing prospect over the next few years. He has a lot of potential as a playmaker, as he was able to make many tape-to-tape passes for TPS last season. His regular season numbers don’t really inspire to much excitement, but he did post three goals and four points in nine playoff games. His main issue is consistency.

#163: Simon Kjellberg, LHD, SuperElite

Kjellberg seems to be a questionable pick at best. I don’t know much about him and there isn’t much written about him anywhere but it appears that he’s a big body defender at 6-foot-3 inches tall who’s numbers this past season weren’t too strong.

#216: Riley Hughes, RW, USHL

The Rangers acquired the second to last pick in the draft from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for the Bruins seventh round pick next year. Smith played just two games last season for the Sioux Stampede of the USHL after finishing the season with his high school team at St. Sebastien’s Prep, where he tallied 21 goals and 15 assist in 30 games.

Next: Grading the Rangers first round selections

Hughes has good size at 6-foot-1 and seems like an incredibly low risk/high reward pick here. He has a good shot, wheels and vision. He needs to work on the physical part of the game, but the tools are there. And for what it’s worth, The Athletic’s Corey Pronman said that he was one of his sleeper picks, so that’s nice.