A “Not the New York Rangers All-Star team”

The defense

With all of the outstanding defensemen in the Rangers system, you can be sure that we will be adding to this list in the coming seasons.

Ryan Graves, Colorado Avalanche – 4th Round 2013, # 110

Ryan Graves definitely falls into the “one who got away” category.  Graves is a player the Rangers gave up on and traded away for that change in scenery.  In February 2018 the Blueshirts traded Graves to Colorado for Chris Bigras in a swap of minor league blueliners.

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Bigras is no longer with the organization.  What has Graves done? After playing well as a fill-in defenseman in his rookie season last year, this year he has become a regular blueliner for the second place Avalanche.  He plays on the second defense pairing with Ian Cole and has shown an offensive upside with five goals and seven assists in 31 games.

Graves has one of the hardest shots in hockey and won the hardest shot contest at the AHL All-Star Game.  Why the 6’5″, 220 pound defenseman never got a chance in New  York is a mystery, but this is one player the team has to regret giving up on.  Oh yes, he leads the NHL in plus/minus with +23.

Michael Del Zotto,  Anaheim Ducks – 1st Round 2008, # 20

Michael Del Zotto was a first round pick who had his best season as a 21-year old New York Ranger and has never equaled that in his 11 year NHL career.  After getting off to a great start to his career, he had a couple mediocre seasons so the Rangers traded him to Nashville for Kevin Klein in 2014.  The trade worked out of the Rangers as Klein was a blueline stalwart during the Rangers’ playoff runs in 2014 and 2015.

As for Del Zotto, he has bounced around the NHL, playing for Nashville, Philadelphia, Vancouver, St Louis and now he is on his second stint in Anaheim.  Last  year he was a deadline acquisition by the Blues, but didn’t get into a single playoff game during the Blues’ run to the championship.

After 11 years in the NHL it’s hard to believe that Del Zotto is still only 29.   He is playing semi-regularly for the Anaheim Ducks with one goal and five points in 22 games. In Saturday’s game against the Ranger, the former Blueshirt absolutely wiped out Jesper Fast with a body check.

Still, five years after being traded, the Rangers have no regrets about making that deal.

Goalies

For a team with one of the deepest talent pools in net, the Rangers have been pretty good about holding on to their goalie prospects.  For this All-Star team, we will have to dip into the minor leagues.

Brandon Halverson, Norfolk Admirals (ECHL)  – 2nd Round 2014,  #59 

Brandon Halverson was a highly regarded second round draft pick who had been one of the better goalies in the OHL for the Soo Greyhounds.   He signed his Entry Level Contract in 2015 and spent three years in the Rangers minor league system bouncing between the ECHL and AHL.

He got into one NHL game, playing the last 13 minutes of a 6-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators in relief of Henrik Lundqvist. That appearance on February 17, 2018 has been his only shot at the NHL. He played 12:33 and allowed one goal.

His career as a Ranger prospect ended this summer when he was not offered a contract after splitting the season between Maine and Hartford.   This year he signed with Norfolk of the ECHL and recently was given a tryout by the Providence Bruins of the AHL.

With all of the outstanding goaltending prospects in the Rangers system, released Halverson was a no-brainer and hopefully he will have a decent minor league career.