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

The New York Rangers organization gets a lot of heat from fans for making bad draft picks and failing to develop prospects.  In the past the team has given up on prospects who blossomed elsewhere.  How have they been doing recently?

Nothing irks fans more than a former prospect who becomes a star after leaving the New York Rangers.  There’s a long history of the team giving up on a prospect who went on to excel for another team.   The list can be nausea-inducing:  Rick Middleton, Dave Gagner, Tony Amonte, Mark Tinordi, Todd Marchant, Kim Johnsson, Tony Granato, Kelly Miller, Kjell Samuelsson, Doug Weight, Mattias Norstrom, Sergei Zubov, Fedor Tyutin and Manny Malhotra,

Many of these players were traded with the Blueshirts in a “win-now” mode, a worthy excuse for giving up a prospect if you actually win.   For that reason, as good as Tony Amonte, Todd Marchant and Doug Weight became, it was worth it because they were traded for players who won a Stanley Cup.

The truly depressing ones are when the Rangers gave up on a player too soon, sending him elsewhere for little return in an exchange of warm bodies with the proverbial “change in scenery” as a justification.  Dave Gagner, Mark Tinordi and Manny Malhotra fall into that category.

Then you have the bad deals and we won’t talk about those except to acknowledge that Rick Middleton is the poster child for bad hockey trades.

The current players

There are nine former Ranger draft picks currently playing for other NHL teams.  Four others are in the minor leagues or Europe.  Here is the “Ex-Ranger Prospect All-Star Team,”  starting with the top three forwards.

J.T. Miller, Vancouver Canucks – 1st Round, 2015, # 15

J.T. Miller makes the all-star team because of his outstanding season in Vancouver.  He is headed for a career season with 13 goals and 31 points in 33 games.   He is playing left wing on a line with Elias Pettersson and at this rate, will finish with 34 goals and 80 points.

Miller brought a combination of physical play and a scoring touch in his six  years in New York along with  propensity for making bonehead plays.  He scored 22 goals in his best season with the Rangers and was part of the February 2018 deal with Tampa.  One reason he was included was his need for a new contract and Tampa gave him five-year, $26.5 million deal that forced his trade to the Canucks this summer.

What Miller has proved since he left New York is that he excels when he plays with the best players.  He was a point-a-game player when teamed with Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos, just as he is in Vancouver playing with Pettersson.

Though Miller would be an asset if still with the team, that trade is still paying dividends for the Rangers.  Ranger fans can regret the deal, but it remains to be seen if Miller’s production will stay at this level.  It didn’t in Tampa.

Derek Stepan, Arizona Coyotes – 2nd Round, 2008, #51

The reason Derek Stepan is no longer a New York Ranger is the salary cap.  The team was forced to trade him before a No Trade Clause kicked in and he was sent to Arizona with Antti Raanta in exchange for a first round pick (Lias Andersson) and Anthony DeAngelo.

This is an example of a trade working out for both teams.  Stepan has continued to play at the same level he did with New York as a defensively conscientious center with the ability to score.  While he was shoehorned into the role of number one center with the Rangers, he will never embarrass you with his play.

He scored some big goals as a New York Ranger and continues to  play well though his numbers are off this season.  With five goals and 11 points in 35 games, he is not a prolific scorer, but he is a mainstay on an Arizona team that is in first place in the Pacific Division.

Anthony Duclair, Ottawa Senators – 3rd Round, 2013, #80

Anthony Duclair almost falls into the “one that got away” category.  He was traded to Arizona for Keith Yandle in a trade deadline deal that almost paid off big time for the Blueshirts when they fell just short of making it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Duclair was a failure in Arizona and became a journeyman, playing in Chicago and Columbus before ending up with Ottawa last season.  In what was likely to be his last shot in the NHL, Duclair has become the goal scorer everyone expected when he made the Rangers out of training camp in 2014 at age 19.

Duclair has exploded with 18 goals this season and is headed towards a 40 goal season.  He notched the third hat trick of his career in a 4-3 win over the Blue Jackets on Saturday.  It was sweet revenge for Duclair who was ripped by John Tortorella when he was with Columbus.

This is what Tortorella said: “I don’t think he knows how to play, I just think he thinks he can do  whatever the hell he wants on the ice. He can’t do it in the National Hockey League. We have spent a lot of time trying to teach him, trying to teach him situational play, away from the puck, all the stuff we do with players. Sometimes it looks like he’s understanding. I don’t know if he just can’t comprehend it or he’s just stubborn. But he’s running out of time.”

Take that Torts.

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.