The New York Rangers have not had a productive farm system for years, but that is beginning to change. How bad has it been?
One of the hallmarks of a quality NHL team is the ability to use the minor leagues as a feeder system. The New York Rangers have failed miserably in that mission, though they are beginning to turn it around. We all knew that the Wolf Pack weren’t helping the Rangers, but taking a deeper look, it’s been really awful.
A winning NHL organization doesn’t rush prospects to the NHL. A winning NHL organization nurtures prospects by getting them experience in the minor leagues, preparing them for the rigors of life in the NHL. A winning NHL organization has a common philosophy throughout their system so that when players are read to make the move, the transition is seamless.
Not many of those characteristics can be attributed to the New York Rangers over the past decade. When John Davidson took over as President, he made it clear that one of his primary goals was to establish a strong organization from the top to bottom. It started with a complete overhaul of the Hartford front office and coaching staff. With Chris Drury installed as GM and with new coach Kris Knoblauch at the helm, it’s beginning to work.
The 2019-20 New York Rangers were a great example of what is going right. Igor Shesterkin spent over half the season in Hartford before his promotion to New York. Filip Chytil spent most of his first season in North America with the Wolf Pack and a return to Hartford at the start of htis season was the impetus for his success. Ryan Lindgren clearly benefited from a full season in Hartford and started this year in the AHL before being promoted.
Prior to those three players getting their grooming in the AHL , the Rangers development of future NHLers was rare. Neal Pionk and Alexandar Georgiev spent most of the 2017-18 season in Hartford. Brady Skjei spent the 2015-16 season with the Wolf Pack. Oscar Lindberg got two years of seasoning in Hartford from 2013-15. You have to go back to the 2013-14 season to find a Hartford team with as many as three future Rangers. That team featured Lindberg, Jesper Fast and J.T. Miller.
To compare, there could be as many as 11 players who suited up for the Wolf Pack this season who have or could find themselves in the NHL with the Rangers. And that doesn’t include top prospect Joey Keane who was swapped for Julien Gauthier, another player who has been developing in the AHL.
Ironically, in the last decade, two players were developed in Hartford, but have found success elsewhere. Jonathan Marchessault spent the 2011-12 season with the team, then known as the Connecticut Whale. It took him a few years before he found success in Florida as a goal scorer. The other player was defenseman Ryan Graves who spent three full seasons in Hartford before being traded and finding success with the Colorado Avalanche.
A comparison
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been held up as a model of player development. They routinely give their prospects extended time in the AHL where they are indoctrinated into the Lightning style of play.
If you look at the current roster of the Lightning, one of the top teams in the NHL, ten players have spent extensive time playing in the Tampa farm system. That includes Anthony Cirelli (54 games) Erik Cernak (80), Yanni Gourde (215), Tyler Johnson (137), Alex Killorn (54), Ondrej Palat (117), Cedric Paquette (75), Mitchell Stephens (131), Andrei Vasilevskiy (37 starts) and Carter Verhaeghe (134). Even top prospect Nikita Kucherov started his first pro season in Syracuse before making it to the NHL for good.
To compare, outside of Shesterkin, Lindgren and Chytil, the current Rangers team has only three of their own players who were developed in their farm system in Georgiev, Fast and Chris Kreider. The Blueshirts even boast a product of the Tampa farm system in Anthony DeAngelo who spent most of the 2015-16 season in Syracuse after being drafted by the Lightning.
What the Rangers need to do
Hopefully, the Rangers have taken a page out of the Tampa playbook and learned a lesson from the experiences of Lindgren, Chytil and Shesterkin. In hindsight, Kaapo Kakko would have probably benefited from a few games with the Wolf Pack. They have to hold fast with players like Vitali Kravtsov and Lias Andersson who were upset when they were sent to Hartford. If Kravtsov still isn’t ready for the NHL, he needs to play heavy minutes in the AHL.
They will be facing a similar situation when K’Andre Miller reports to training camp along with some of the other young prospects they have signed in recent weeks. Not everyone can be Adam Fox and it should be remembered that he had three full seasons in the NCAA before making the jump to the NHL.
We don’t hear much about them, but the Wolf Pack have some players on the their roster who could see Broadway some day. Libor Hajek, Adam Huska, Patrick Newell and Yegor Rykov are all players with potential to make it to the big show and are getting valuable experience in the AHL.
It’s also important for Ranger fans to be patient. While we have been enthralled by the rebuild and the development of one of the youngest teams in the league, the Rangers are ready to begin to contend for a playoff spot and that means using the minors for development instead of force feeding young players. The Rangers organization and their fans have bought into the rebuild and understand it is a process. The good news is that they are creating a culture of success and it seems to be working.