New York Rangers: North American prospect report card part 1
Last week, I took a deep dive into the New York Rangers’ prospects playing in Europe. The Rangers have even more prospects playing in North America. In the first half of this series, I will be grading the forwards in the Rangers’ system.
The New York Rangers have a very… decent talent pool. Their European prospects grade well overall, but the Rangers also have plenty of youth in North America. This article will be my grading of the forward group. In my next article, I will look at defensemen and goaltenders playing in North America.
Here is the criteria for making the grade. I evaluated players under the age of 25 and only those not in the NHL. I chose these two limits to weed out players who are still young, but have firmly cemented their place in the lineup, like Filip Chytil and Brett Howden, or simply don’t seem to have much ahead of them, like Steven Fogarty.
Prospecting is never an exact science, so these players may turn out as top-six forwards or never make it to the league. I graded these prospects based on my opinion of both their current skill and their ceiling.
*All of these stats are from EliteProspects.com and are to date as of Jan. 31st, 2019*
F
Ryan Gropp – #41 Pick, 2nd Round 2015 Draft
22-years old, Canada,
AHL: 32G 3G 5A 8P A
ECHL: 8GP 5G 3A 8P
I think that it’s fair enough to say that Gropp has consistently been a product of his linemates. In juniors, Gropp spent the majority of his time playing with current Islanders’ star Matt Barzal, but once Gropp joined the Wolf Pack, his offensive skill seemed to dry up.
The former second round draft pick is in his second year in the AHL and he is on track for an even more disappointing season than last. He’s a big, strong forward, but he just seems to need others around him to uplift him, instead of the other way around. He receives such a low-grade because he has shown very little in terms of production, especially for such a high draft pick.
Dawson Leedahl – Undrafted Free Agent
22-years old, Canada
AHL: 23 GP 0G 0A 0P
ECHL: 12GP 3G 4A 7P
The Regina Pats product has shuttled between the AHL and the ECHL in his two years as a pro. Leedahl plays a gritty, defensive minded game, but he provides very little offensively. He was signed after an obvious outlier season for the Pats in the WHL.
Simply put, I don’t see much that impresses me from Leedahl. If he can continue to improve on the skills he’s already good at, I could realistically see him as either a depth/spare forward or career AHLer. For an undrafted free agent, I’m not sure the expectations were high to begin with.
D
Gabriel Fontaine – #171 Pick, 6th Round 2016 Draft
21-years old, Canada
AHL: 42 GP 6G 13A 19P
Gabriel Fontaine is in his second season with the Wolf Pack. After being drafted in the sixth round of the 2016 draft, Fontaine spent one year in juniors before joining the Rangers’ AHL affiliate. The gritty two-way forward performed in all three zones in major juniors, but has yet to put it all together at the next level.
Right now, Fontaine feels just like Dawson Leedahl, with a little more offensive punch to his game. Fontaine has already surpassed his point total from last season in 26 fewer games. While things are trending up for him, nothing in his game stands out as exceptional and there are still holes that need filling.
Vinni Lettieri – Undrafted Free Agent
23-years old, USA
NHL: 16GP 0G 0A 0P
AHL: 26GP 12G 13A 25P
Vinni Lettieri is a familiar face to the Rangers, as he has spent time between the NHL and the AHL for the last season and a half. He even made the Rangers out of the pre-season. Based on that level of experience, its tough to call him a prospect, but he is only 23. Lettieri is a powerful shooter, who is relatively accurate as well. However, the pluses kind of stop there.
He has bounced back and forth for a reason. Lettieri has shown that he isn’t good enough to play in the NHL as of right now. All of his other abilities pale in comparison to his shooting ability, and quite drastically. At this point, he seems much more likely to be on the less successful side of being a depth forward.
C
Tim Gettinger #141 Pick, 5th Round 2016 Draft
20-years old, USA
NHL: 4GP 0G 0A 0P
AHL: 35GP 9G 8A 17P
The 6’6″ forward got his first taste of the NHL this season with the Rangers. His hulking size and offensive upside make him an intriguing prospect, but it only comes out in small flashes. Gettinger gets a C because he needs to develop the skills that hehasn’t figured out just yet.
He needs to work on using his body in zones other than the offensive zone. His neutral zone play has been very one-dimensional, and he has been atrocious in the defensive end. Rangers’ head coach David Quinn asks all of his players to play a three zone game, and Gettinger just can’t do that yet.
Riley Hughes #216 Pick, 7th Round 2018 Draft
18-years old, USA
BCHL: 43 GP 20GP 23A 43P
Riley Hughes may be one of the 2018 draft’s diamonds in the rough. The 6’1″ righty is in his first and only season at the major junior level, and he has played extremely well. He has committed to play at Northeastern University next season.
Hughes has impressed with his strong offensive game, scoring at a point per game pace. He is unafraid to use his body in the corners and along the walls, and he has used a set of soft hand to pot some of his 20 goals. The downsides to his game that I have noticed have been his seeming lack of speed and lack of hockey sense. He tends to get lost for short periods of time, but that will come with experience.
Ville Meskanen – Undrafted Free Agent
23-years old, Finland
AHL: 45 GP 9G 17A 26P
Meskanen came into this season as a complete wild card. He was signed by the Rangers after a strong season in Liiga, the top flight of Finnish hockey. In his first season in North America, Meskanen has been impressive.
Meskanen’s most obvious, and impressive, traits have been his shooting and stickhandling. There are sequences when it seems like nobody can knock him off of the puck. However, he still needs to work on adjusting to the style of hockey played here, but Meskanen could end up as a strong middle six forward.
Ty Ronning #201 Pick, 7th Round 2016 Draft
21-years old, Canada
AHL: 8GP 1G 0A 1P
ECHL: 22GP 9G 10A 19P
This one may be more of a surprise to be here, but I am oddly high on Ty Ronning’s ceiling. The diminutive forward has only gotten short tryouts with the Hartford Wolf Pack the last three seasons, and he has produced at every other level, most notably a 61 goal 2017-2018 season in the WHL.
Ronning is small. There is no way to get around that, however; he gets around other skaters very well. Despite his size, he doesn’t shy away from contact. He is naturally shifty and can make every player around him better. He just needs some time to develop his complete skill set.
B
Lias Andersson #7 Pick, 1st Round 2017 Draft
20-years old, Sweden
NHL: 21 GP 1G 3A 4P
AHL: 27 GP 6G 12A 18P
The jury is still very much out on Lias Andersson. So far he has been a disappointment, as he was such a high draft pick. However, I still have faith that he will pan out in some way.
Andersson is a pretty complete two-way forward. He excels in the defensive end and adds a bit of offensive punch. His biggest assets are his leadership qualities, shown by his captaincy of the U-20 Swedish national team, and his team play. He plays every shift at 100% and gives his team his all.
Morgan Barron #174 Pick, 6th Round 2017 Draft
20 -years old, Canada
NCAA: 19 GP 9G 12A 21P
Morgan Barron earns himself a B grade based mainly his great improvement from last season to this. Playing in his sophomore season at Cornell University, Barron has already surpassed his point total from last year in 14 fewer games. The big power forward has improved on almost every aspect of his game.
He was just named the ECAC Player of the Month for January after notching four goals and nine assists in eight games.
Weighing in at 6’2″ and 209 lbs, Barron is a prototypical power forward. He plays with a speed element combined with his size that makes him dangerous in all three zones. Barron’s all around game has improved immensely since last year and could make his way to the league in just a few seasons. If he gets a contract from the Rangers that is.
A
None of the Rangers’ forwards have graded as an A prospect. That being said, the only forward that is still a prospect and grades this highly is Filip Chytil. No other Rangers affiliated forward playing in North America has his same complete skill set. Chytil is big, fast, has soft mitts, and has an accurate shot.
Next. New York Rangers: Mid-Season European Prospect Report Cards. dark
The New York Rangers’ cupboard is pretty bare when it comes to forward talent. Luckily, they have some more talent coming from Europe in the form of Vitali Kravtsov. I obviously am not all that high on this list of prospects, let me know what you think in the comment section and on social media!