After the first day of the 2018 World Junior Championships, it’s time to look back on previous New York Rangers’ time in the tournament.
For as much as the New York Rangers’ organization has historically struggled at developing high-end talent out of the entry draft, the team has had players with success at the amateur level. The World Junior Championship is the high stakes international tournament in which the best amateur players in the world represent their respective country while the world watches the future of hockey.
Talent evaluation in professional hockey is not an exact science. Sure, there are benchmarks in the course of eventually becoming a great player. However, talented prospects slip through the cracks every single year and go through non-linear paths to greatness at the NHL level.
The World Junior Championship (WJC) is a chance for teams to see how their amateur talent holds up against the best in the world. The best teams manage to filter in this young talent at the NHL level sooner rather than later. How players fare in the tournament is not always an indicator of professional success, but it’s something to take account of.
As for Rangers’ talent in the tournament, a handful of players on the active roster have participated in the tournament. Typically, an above average NHL player will get invited to their respective country’s preliminary camp prior to the tournament. In New York’s case, it’s had 15 different players on its active roster participate.
If a player is drafted in the first three rounds of the draft, they typically have represented their country at least once between the ages of 17 and 20.