The New York Rangers signed college free agent Patrick Newell to an entry level contract. Three other prospects were in action Saturday in playoff games.
The New York Rangers hope they struck gold with their signing of college free agent Patrick Newell of St. Cloud State, a Hobey Baker Award finalist. Morgan Barron and the Cornell Big Red moved one step closer to the Frozen Four with their dominant win over the Northeastern Huskies.
Patrick Newell is a center/left wing who just finished his senior year at St. Cloud State, the top ranked college hockey team the NCAA. St. Cloud was upset and ousted from the NCAA playoffs in the first round by 16th ranked American International. Newell signed as soon as his college career was over.
Newell just turned 23-years old and is coming off a season in which he scored 21 goals and 47 points in 39 games. His goal total was three times as many as he had scored before so his senior year was quite an eye opener. He was named NCHC (National Collegiate Hockey Conference) Fprward of the year and was a first team all-star.
The big knock on Newell is his size. He is only 5’9″ and weighs 155 pounds. That’s one inch taller than Mats Zuccarello and thirty pounds lighter. Note that the Rangers website has him at 170 pounds. The 155 pounds comes from his college website.
Newell is a native of Thousand Oaks, California. His contract is in effect at the beginning of next season, no word if he is eligible to join the Rangers before the end of this season on a tryout basis.
Morgan Barron and Big Red Advance
The Cornell Big Red had no trouble advancing to the next round of the NCAA playoffs by soundly defeating the Northeastern Huskies 5-1 in Providence, Rhode Island. The game was televised on ESPN and gave Ranger fans a chance to see Morgan Barron in action.
Barron had a goal and was a plus two on the game. He also took two minor penalties in the first period. In watching Barron play, his most distinctive feature is his size. At 6’3″, 215 pounds, Barron is bigger than most players and he uses his size and reach quite well.
His one goal was a wraparound goal, a move he tried more than once. He’s a big body and he uses it well on the forecheck. His line had some dominant shifts.
He was called for a boarding penalty that was reviewed. Barron basically shoved the much smaller Jeremy Davies of Northeastern into the boards and Davies went down with what looked like a head injury. On replay, it was clear that Barron just pushed him and Davies went down headfirst. Davies returned to the game for the power play.
Cornell plays on Sunday at 4pm on ESPN 2. They will meet Providence College who upset number three seed Minnesota State. It will be tough for Cornell as they are playing in Providence before what will be a very partisan crowd. If Cornell can win, they are in the Frozen Four. They haven’t won an NCAA championship since 1970.
Major Junior Hockey Playoffs
The Oshawa Generals and defenseman Nico Gross advanced to the next round of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs by defeating the Peterborough Petes 4-2. Gross was plus one and took a two minute minor in the third period. With the win, the Generals join Joey Keane’s London Knights in the second round of the OHL playoffs. The Knights will take on the Guelph Storm and the Generals will play the Niagara IceDogs in round 2.
In the Western Hockey League, Jake Elmer’s Lethbridge Hurricanes lost again to the Calgary Hitmen 6-5 and trail in their series 2-3. Elmer took a roughing penalty in the first period that led to the first Calgary goal on the power play. Elmer was scoreless and took two minors.
Game six is tonight in Calgary.
BCHL Playoffs
The only other Ranger prospect still in action is forward Riley Hughes of the Victoria Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are in their third round of the BCHL playoffs. They lost the first game of the series against the Prince George Spruce Kings. They dropped their second game 4-2 and trail in the series two games to none.
Hughes scored a power play goal in the first period to open the scoring for Victoria. Hughes was drafted in the seventh round in 2018 (216th overall) and is committed to play at Northeastern University in the fall. Game three is Monday night.