New York Rangers: Post lockout March Madness bracket region 4
As a rebuilding organization, the New York Rangers have stockpiled a small army of prospects in hopes of once again competing for a Stanley Cup. This fourth and final region covers those players who have yet to truly breakout at the NHL level.
Whenever an organization in sports opts to slowly build through the draft and unloading veteran talent, it can draw pause. The road to a never-ending abyss and Stanley Cup glory both start down the same path, an executive with some idea for what their team should look like. Midway through last season, New York Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton made the tough call to blow it all up.
The Rangers are about 14 months removed from the letter that stated the team’s goal of getting younger and moving on from some familiar faces. Since that fateful decision was made, New York has sent key pieces from the team’s playoff runs on to greener pastures in favor of a potentially better future.
When it comes to building through the draft, it’s always a crapshoot. Human development is a series of random events compounding on top of each other through both the environment of the player and how they are molded. There’s a reason no two players have the exact same career arc, everyone is different.
These 16 players are the hopes and dreams of the Rangers franchise going forward. Each and every one of them will require development to become the player they could be.
Vitali Kravtsov (1) vs Darren Raddysh (16)
The Rangers selected Russian forward Vitali Kravtsov with the ninth overall pick in last year’s draft to the surprise of many. With better-known prospects like Oliver Whalstrom and Evan Bouchard available, New York went off the board for a seventeen-year-old that played against grown men in the KHL.
At the time it appeared as if the front office was getting too cute and trying to be outside the box. Instead, Kravtsov had an outstanding age 18 season over in Russia and was ranked the best prospect in all of hockey by TSN. There are going to be growing pains, very rarely does an 18-year-old jump right into the NHL and play well.
However, if Kravtsov keeps trending the way he is now, it won’t be long before he’s a staple of the Rangers top line.
It’s almost unfair to defenseman Taylor Raddysh to be in this bracket to begin with. The defenseman making it to the AHL at all is impressive as an amateur tryout contract after not being drafted. At age 22, Raddysh is still growing as a player and has logged significant minutes in the American League over the past two years in the Chicago Blackhawk organization.
The Rangers acquired the defenseman as depth at the AHL level for Peter Holland prior to this year’s deadline. The hope was that Raddysh could provide some depth in the minors for when more talented prospects begin to arrive. A large part of the team’s developmental issues stems from a lack of structure and management at the AHL level.
The Wolf Pack are continually amongst the worst teams in the AHL even though the Rangers were successful at the NHL level.
Filip Chytil (2) vs Morgan Barron (15)
Even though Filip Chytil has played 71 games at the NHL level this season and recorded 22 points, he still falls into the prospect category. As the first fresh face of the rebuild to meaningfully stick at the NHL level, Chytil is a stepping stone towards the future that the front office envisioned. While the Czech forward has a ways to go in his development, the recipe for success is there.
In a pretty meaningless season, Chytil’s five-game goal streak back in November may have been the highlight. There is plenty to like about the forward’s game whether it be his hands, end to end speed or vision of the ice, Chytil has all of the tools in the toolbox to be a very good player at the NHL level.
A relative late addition to this bracket, Morgan Barron, a forward at Cornell University, whose draft rights the Rangers hold, had a strong sophomore season in the ECAC conference. In 34 games, the Halifax native recorded 33 points and was nominated for the conference’s best defensive forward award.
As a former 6th round pick, Barron’s path to the NHL is likely an uphill one, if one ever does materialize at all. However, his play as a sophomore should be extremely encouraging. The team has found success in late rounds on college players before like Carl Hagelin. Barron is likely to play all four years at Cornell, so it may be some time before he makes it to the AHL.
K’Andre Miller (3) vs Tim Gettinger (14)
The Rangers blue line this season is an absolute mess. Without any top-pair talent to give the group an anchor to lean on, it’s required a kitchen sink effort that doesn’t produce meaningful results. It may not be fair to hinge the team’s long-term success on Miller’s development as a pro-prospect but many already are doing so.
As a freshman at the University of Wisconsin, Miller played in 26 games and recorded 22 points. In addition to his strong offensive season, he was also named to the Big Ten all-freshman team for his play. The defenseman suffered a lower-body injury back in February that prematurely ended his season before conference play began.
In year two at Wisconsin, the Rangers will hope that Miller can stay healthy for a full year and continue to develop under head coach Tony Granato.
The career arc of Tim Gettinger is unique because of the forward’s size at 6’6. When a player is that physically large, teams will be more lenient in terms of development because as the old saying goes, “you can’t teach size.” The forward played four games at the NHL level this year for the Rangers but failed to record a point in his limited ice time.
At 20-years-old, Gettinger is still extremely raw as a prospect and definitely still a project. But, as a rebuilding team, the Rangers have the luxury of time when it comes to player development. Someone like Gettinger will have chances going forward to find his way into the bottom six at the NHL level or the top six at the AHL level.
Nils Lundkvist (4) vs Boo Nieves (13)
The third member of the 2018 draft class in this region, Swedish defenseman Nils Lundkvist, no not Lundqvist, played this past season for Lulea HF of the Sweedish Elite League. At only 18-years-old, Lundkvist was playing against men in the third best league in the entire world and managed to hold his own pretty well.
The Rangers took two defensemen in the first round of last year’s draft to address a glaring organizational need. Lundkvist should figure into that plan relatively soon, probably within the next two years. As the latest in this generation of Swedish defenseman that grew up watching Nick Lidstrom dominate the sport, Lundkvist should continue trending upward.
Even though Boo Nieves has had consistent NHL ice time most of this season, the Rochester native is still growing into his role. At this point, the Michigan product is what he is, an above average skater that can play some penalty kill and on the fourth line. However, he’s pretty good at that and easily could figure into the plan on a winning team.
When the Rangers were at their collective best this decade, it was through the ability to roll out four lines in any situation. Someone like Nieves could easily play a facsimile Brian Boyle roll in the future. At 25-years-old, there is no major career jump coming for Nieves, but he’s already pretty good at what he does.
Igor Shestyorkin (5) vs Joey Keane (12)
The goalie position in the NHL is extremely hard to evaluate, develop or understand. So much of a netminder’s play is contingent upon what happens in front of them, that’s what makes translating a player from team to team so difficult. The Rangers have two more years of Henrik Lundqvist and then the assumption is Russian prospect Igor Shestyorkin will take over.
Coming into this season, the Rangers likely guessed that Shestyorkin would finish out his KHL contract and then come over to North America for the 2019-2020 season. Although his stellar play at the KHL level has slightly ticked down because he was put into a goalie timeshare, he’s still a solid prospect nonetheless.
Another recent draft pick, Joey Keane of the London Knights, is an under the radar player that had a strong preseason. In fact, at one point last September, there was an outside chance of the left-handed defenseman cracking the opening night roster. That didn’t come to fruition, but his strong play carried over to the AHL level.
The Illinois native is going to be 20-years-old for the upcoming season and could make the jump to the AHL for next fall. Although Keane doesn’t have the amateur pedigree of either Miller or Lundkvist, he’s pretty close to being ready for the NHL. There’s going to be a steep learning curve from the OHL to the show, but Keane very well could be ready as soon as this fall.
Lias Andersson (6) vs Ty Ronning (11)
The Rangers career of Swedish forward Lias Andersson has been a series of false starts. The team did not set the Swede up for success from the jump when it expected him to immediately step in as the replacement for Derek Stepan at the start of the 2017-2018 season as an 18-year-old. That in part fuels the narrative that Andersson is a bust, even though he’s only 20-years-old.
Andersson has a grand total of 42 NHL games under his belt to this point. There’s something to be said for patience, the former seventh overall pick deserves the benefit of the doubt. New York drafted him with the intention of replacing Stepan, in the former Rangers’ first full year, he recorded 45 points at age 20.
If Andersson starts the year at the NHL level next year and records around 30 points, he’ll be on his way.
When it comes to prospects, Ty Ronning’s path could not be any more different than Anderson’s. The former Vancouver Giant was a seventh-round pick, 201st overall, in the 2016 draft. In the WHL, a league known for offensive production, Ronning exploded with a 61 goal season as a 19-year-old overage player.
This year, Ronning has volleyed back and forth between the AHL and the ECHL. At 5’9 and 175 pounds, the small forward is still looking to carve a path to the NHL based on skill and speed. Ronning will get a look come next fall’s training camp but is likely in need of more developmental playing time.
Libor Hajek (7) vs Ryan Lindgren (10)
The Rangers got a grand total of five NHL games and one goal before defenseman Libor Hajek suffered an injury that cut his season short. In that brief stint, Hajek played a simple and composed game which bodes well for the future. Since he struggled at the AHL level this year, there was some concern, however, that appears to be a product of the environment.
As a 21-year-old, this upcoming season will be Hajek’s jump year. Either he starts the season at the NHL level and begins to make progress towards being a regular, or his growth will officially be behind schedule. The former second-round pick was the sticking point of the Ryan McDonagh trade for the Rangers, Gorton wanted Hajek and he got him. Now, he needs to prove why.
Another one of the prospects that Gorton acquired in deals around last year’s deadline, defenseman Ryan Lindgren has spent the majority of this season in the AHL with the Wolf Pack. The Minnesota product got a handful of games at the NHL level this season but looked a bit over his head.
His choice to leave college early for the AHL last year was viewed with some skepticism, but seasoning against better competition never hurts. There was obviously a learning curve this year, but there is time for Lindgren. His ceiling is probably lower than Hajek’s because of his lack of puck skills, but there is always room to grow.
Brett Howden (8) vs Yegor Rykov (9)
Along with Hajek and some draft picks, Brett Howden was also part of New York’s return for McDonagh. In his first NHL season, the Calgary native has played 59 games and recorded 18 points. As a former first-round pick of the strong Tampa Bay Lightning system, Howden’s amateur play was pretty impressive.
There comes a point in every rookie’s first year that they hit a physical wall unless they’re a generational talent. The mere mortals tire after the December mark because that’s what their body is used to, about 40 games of hockey. After that, there’s usually a production dropoff. Throw in Howden’s injury and you have an uneven rookie campaign.
A strong but mysterious nine seed, Russian defenseman Yegor Rykov was acquired from the New Jersey Devils as part of the return for forward Michael Grabner. A player whose path to North America is muddled by KHL chicanery, Rykov played well in 47 games for Sochi as a minutes-eating blueliner.
Whether he’s allowed to come to North America this upcoming season still remains up in the air. As one of three Russians that the Rangers are invested in for the future, Rykov has a reasonable chance of making the opening night roster out of training camp next year if he impresses during the preseason.
If Rykov pans out at the NHL level, that Grabner trade becomes even more of a steal than it already was.
Next. Low risk trade targets. dark
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