New York Rangers draft preview: Some possible first round picks

Unless lightning strikes twice in two years, the New York Rangers will be picking after the top ten prospects have been drafted.  There are a number of players who could end up as future Blueshirts.

With two first round draft picks, the New York Rangers’ first selection is likely to be somewhere between 12th and 16th overall.  In our first draft preview, we looked at the players expected to go at the top of the draft and would only be available if the Blueshirts win a lottery pick again.  In our second preview we checked out players expected to go in the top ten, but who could slip within range once the draft begins.  Now, it’s time to look at players expected to be picked between 10th and 20th in the first round.

When it comes to players in this range, there are  lot of different opinions about where they will go in the draft.  The rankings are complicated even more by the fact that there were no playoffs or international competitions or a combine where scouts would have had a chance for one last assessment of talent.  That’s one reason why there is some much diversity in where players are ranked.

That means that this year more than ever, there will be teams that luck into a top pick later in the draft and some picks taken early will not turn out as well as expected.  It’s really a crapshoot.  The good news is all teams are in the same boat, forced to do their scouting by watching videos.

In selecting the players we are highlighting, we looked at the rankings by ten of the top hockey websites.  All of the sites are listed at the end of this article with links.

Kaiden Guhle, Defense – WHL

Kaiden Guhle is a left handed shooting defenseman who has starred for the last three years for the Prince Albert Raiders.   Of the experts we sampled, some had him going as high as 14th while others had him as low as 28th.

He scored 11 goals and added 29 assists for 4o points in 64 WHL games.  He is 6’2″, 186 pounds and just turned 18 in January and is the brother of Anaheim Ducks defenseman Brendan Guhle.

ISS Hockey had him ranked the highest at 14th, followed by Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet  who had him at 15th and listed his attributes as a  “combination of size, amazing skating ability and nastiness” while calling him a “complimentary” defenseman.    Corey Pronman of the Athletic described Guhle  as “a very mobile defenseman with size who punishes his opponents” and had him just outside of his top tier of prospects.

While the Rangers are probably not in the market for a defenseman, Guhle has a mean streak and could develop into the kind of stay at home defenseman the team is lacking.  Despite three years in the WHL, he is still young and could develop with time in the American Hockey League.

Seth Jarvis, Center – WHL

While most experts have Seth Jarvis as a late first round or early second pick he was the 11th rated prospect by EliteProspects.com and is 13th overall according the Pronman of the Athletic.

Jarvis is a center for the Portland Winter Hawks who has seen his offensive output grow each year.  After going goal-less in 11 games three years ago, he scored 16 goals in 2018-19 and this season, he scored 42 goals and added 56 assists for 98 points in 58 games.

At 5’10” and 172 pounds, Jarvis lacks size and that could be one reason why he wasn’t highly ranked by some experts.  Pronman said he has “a style of game that projects to the pro level..”  He also complimented him as a “very hard working player who can play in the middle third of the ice and in the defensive zone.”

Steve Kournianos ranked him 26th overall and called Jarvis “A slick and cerebral forward with excellent hands…and an excellent shot and release.”  Like Pronman, he said that Jarvis excels on special teams and cited his intangibles.

Jarvis is another player who lost an opportunity when the WHL season was ended.  Portland was one of the better teams in the league and Jarvis would have had a chance to showcase his talent in the playoffs.

Mavrik Bourque, Center – QMJHL

Mavrik Bourque is an 18-year old center for the Shawinigan Cataractes who has had two very consistent years in the QMJHL.  At 5’10” and 178 pounds, he is on the smaller size, but he projected by the experts to go in the mid to late first round.

Steve Kournianos of the Sporting News ranked Bourque 12th overall and sees him as a power play specialist  with “soft hands and big-play proclivity.”  He also cited his use of “a lot of trickery, such as passes of the no-look, behind-the-back, saucer, and bank variety. ”

Ryan Kennedy has Bourque at 13th overall for the Hockey News and Craig Button from TSN also placed him in the top 20.   Chris Peters of ESPN ranked him 32nd citing that he “had a harder time getting through the middle of the ice due to a slight frame,” but also complimented him as “a really strong shot-pass threat in the offensive zone.”

Bourque could be around when the Ranger make their first pick and he could be an interesting choice as a highly skilled, playmaking center.

Jacob Perreault, Right wing – OHL

Jacob Perreault  is a winger most experts see being drafted in the bottom third of the first round.  The Illinois native just turned 18 and has had two full seasons with the Sarnia Sting of the OHL. After scoring 30 goals and 55 points as a rookie, he improved to 39 goals and 70 points in 57 games.  He was the leading goal scorer for Sarnia, who finished  last in the OHL’s Western Conference.

Perreault, who is 5’11” and weighs 192 pounds, has a big fan in Corey Pronman of the Athletic who had him ranked 12th overall.   Pronman said that Perreault “has one of if not the best shot in this draft,” pointing to the 30 goals he scored as a 16 year old in the OHL.  Pronman sees his upside as an offensive weapon and his defense may be why he was not ranked more highly by other experts.  While most of the experts had him in the first round, Craig Button of TSN projects him to go 40th overall, well into the second round.

While he may be around when the Rangers draft, with Kaapo Kakko and Vitali Kravtsov on the right wing, that may not be a priority position for the Blueshirts.  He does have good bloodlines as he is the son of Yanic Perrault who played 14 years in the NHL.

Noel Gunler, Right wing – SHL (Sweden)

Noel Gunler is a teammate of Rangers draft pick Nils Lundkvist on the Lulea club in the Swedish Hockey League, so they should be very familiar with him.   He’s the ninth ranked European skater by NHL Central Scouting and is committed to return to Lulea for his second full season. As a rookie he scored four goals and totaled 13 points in 45 games.

Gunler was an outstanding goal scorer in 2018-19 for the Lulea junior team, with 27 goals and 46 points in 31 games.  McKeen’s Hockey ranked him the highest, at 14th overall with ISS  Hockey ranking him 18th and 19th by EliteProspects.com.  He dropped to 45th on Craig Button’s rankings for TSN.

Steve Kournianos or the Sporting News ranked him 30th overall and called him the  biggest boom or bust prospect for 2020″ labeling him “engimatic.”    While he said that Gunler can be an “unstoppable force” offensively and his promotion to the SHL has helped round out his game,  he wasn’t named to the Swedish national junior team, a cause for concern.

This all points to Gunler being a risky first round pick, in other words, a classic Rangers choice.

John-Jason Peterka, Left wing – DEL (Germany)

The Rangers had the first German born player in NHL history in Walt Tkaczuk (though he was raised in Canada) and they haven’t had one since Randy Gilhen in 1993, so the time is ripe for them to select a German native.    John-Jason Peterka could be the pick.

Peterka just turned 18 and played his first season for Munich in the German pro league, the DEL.  In 42 games he scored seven goals and added four assists for 11 points. He did open some eyes at the WJC where Germany played in the relegation tournament.  He was a linemate of Tim Stutzle who is projected to be a top five pick in the draft.  Ryan Kennedy of the Hockey News said that the line of Stutzle, Peterka and Lukas Reichel “made a collective statement.”

Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet has Peterka ranked 18th calling him a safer bet that linemate Reichel who is also draft eligible.    One reason Peterka could move up is the relative shortage of left wingers in the draft class.