Potential top 10 picks who could be around for the Rangers
By Steve Paulus
Connor Zary, Center – WHL
Connor Zary is a highly regarded center who could be around when the Rangers pick. He turns 19 in September and has played three full seasons in the WHL for the Kamloop Blazers. With his age and experience, he will be ready to make the jump to pro hockey when he is drafted.
Zary is six feet, 180 pounds and has shown steady improvement in each of his three seasons in junior hockey. This shortened season he scored 38 goals and totaled 86 points in 57 games. McKeen’s Hockey has him as the ninth overall pick, though NHL Central Scouting has him as the 15 best North American skater. Craig Button also ranks Zary highly at 11th. Cory Pronman has him going tenth overall, calling him “a player with a ton of skill who has the quick hands to dazzle and create a highlight reel moment.” Pronman also cited how hard he plays, attacking the net.
If Zary had been born ten days earlier, he would have been eligible to be drafted last year. His displays a lot of the traits that are valued highly by Rangers coach David Quinn.
Dylan Holloway, Center – NCAA
Dylan Holloway was a teammate of K’Andre Miller’s at the University of Wisconsin so he should be very familiar to the Rangers. He’s another older player who just missed the 2019 Entry Draft.
The left handed shooting center had a solid freshman season with eight goals and 17 points in 35 games for a disappointing Wisconsin team. He has excellent size at 6’1″ and 201 pounds.
Holloway has his fans with Kournianos of the Sporting News ranking him 10th and the Hockey News and ESPN placed him 11th. Kournianos said “he can be an excellent passer with a wicked shot to boot.” A prototypical power forward, he was a dominant forward in Canadian Junior A hockey with 40 goals in 53 games in his last season.
He projects as a solid two-way center with “a good on-ice work ethic” according to Peters of ESPN. Still, a number of rankings had him going in the 17-20 range of the first round, well within reach of the Rangers.
Dawson Mercer, Right wing/center – QMJHL
Dawson Mercer is a teammate of Hendrix Lapierre with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the QMJHL. Ranked the 10th best North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, he was also highly ranked as 11th best by Corey Pronman and 12th best by ISS Hockey. He fell to 23rd by Ryan Kennedy of the Hockey News and 33rd by Kournianos of the Sporting News.
Pronman’s said Mercer has “a lot of skill…not elite skill, but he can make defenders look silly. He’s a very smart player who moves the puck well inside the zone and has offensive creativity.” Chris Peters of ESPN was very complimentary, saying “Mercer hunts pucks with the best of them and can be a thorn in the side of the opposition. Once he has the puck, he can make some special things happen. He processes the game at a very high speed.” Peters project Mercer going 14th overall.
Mercer will be 19 years old in October and is six feet, 178 pounds. He was traded mid-season from the Drummondville Voltigeurs to Chicoutimi, going from a good team to one of the best in the QMJHL. Losing the playoffs will make Mercer a tougher pick to assess.
In 42 games for the two teams, he scored 24 goals and had 60 points. Mercer was a member of the gold medal winning team at the WJC, but didn’t help his draft rankings by going scoreless in seven games.