New York Rangers: Bob McKenzie’s final 2020 draft rankings

First round surprises and snubs 

Ridly Greig (#24) and Jake Neighbours (#31) were two players who made it into the first round and may raise some eyebrows. Greig was on the first-round bubble when McKenzie released his January rankings but has clearly solidified his position as a first-rounder, slotting in at 24.  Neighbors is making his first appearance in the top-31, climbing seven spots from his previous ranking to 31.

Brendan Brisson (#30) is another new face in McKenzie’s top-31. Brisson, the son of hockey super-agent Pat Brisson, played his draft season with the USHL’s Chicago Steel. While the team was likely the most dominant non-NTDP team in USHL history, Brisson was their first-line center and second-leading scorer.

Barrie Colts sniper Tyson Foerster (#29) finally makes his way into the top-31, and if he improves his foot-speed, he could be a steal in that range.

There were a few players expected to be consensus first-rounders who didn’t make McKenzie’s cut. The most notable snub is Czech center Jan Myšák (#34), who finished his season in the OHL playing for the Hamilton Bulldogs. While Myšák rose almost twenty places from his 53rd rank in January, he was surely being undervalued at that point and his non-inclusion as a first-round talent is somewhat shocking. For context, Myšák scored 15 goals in his 22 games with the Bulldogs, which is a 46 goal pace over a full 68 game OHL season. 22 games is not a huge sample size, but even when you account for variation, it is clear that he is one of the better goal-scoring talents in the draft class.

Another notable first-round omission is Swedish forward Zion Nybeck (#73). Nybeck is very undersized, and his draft-stock was definitely affected by spending most of his season in Sweden’s junior league. He would have benefited from playing in the U18 Tournament in April that was canceled. But he is an incredibly gifted player and set the scoring record for a U18 player in the SuperElit (Swedish Junior League). I have him as a first-rounder, and while I understand the exposure issue, he should be ranked much higher than 73.

Finally, fan-favorite Marat Khusnutdinov (#35), a creative and dynamic Russian center, narrowly missed out on a spot in the top-31 after rising 23 spots to become McKenzie’s 35th ranked player.

Guessing which five players the Rangers may be “higher” on

Myšák and Nybeck have to be two players on the Rangers’ radar, despite falling out of the first round rankings. There are five other players who could end up as Rangers prospects. Included is each player’s position, team, league, and placement in McKenzie’s rankings.

1. Anton Lundell, C, HIFK (Liiga), #12: Lundell may be the smartest player in this draft and already brings an NHL-level defensive game to the table. He can make plays and score goals at a high level, and produced admirably playing in a 3rd line role on a strong professional team. The Rangers have had a recent tendency to draft players from Finland, and I suspect Lundell is player who will be ranked in their top-10. It is very unclear where the Rangers will select, but I could see them being quite high on Lundell, even if he may be a bit out of their range.
2. Noel Gunler, RW, Luleå (SHL), #28: Many Twitter scouts have Gunler as a borderline top-10 player, including yours truly. He has arguably the best shot in the class and has put up monstrous points totals at every level. The goalscoring winger has a reputation as a player with attitude issues, which has led to Sweden leaving him off numerous international rosters that he should have been included on. This has had a huge effect on his draft stock. The Rangers, however, will have seen plenty of his play in the SHL because he plays on the same team as star prospect, defenseman Nils Lundkvist. Gunler is likely a player the Rangers will target with their second first-round pick.
3. Marat Khusnutdinov, C, SKA-1946 (MHL), #35: Khusnutdinov is one of the most purely entertaining players in this draft class. Standing at only 5’9″, Khusnutdinov rivals Lundell as the most advanced defensive forward in the draft class. He possesses excellent speed, puck skills, and vision, leading me to believe he is a player with sky-high potential. There is no denying the Rangers like their Russian players, and the Rangers’ Director of European Scouting, Russian Nick Bobrov, does his homework on the Russian junior league better than most.
4. Theodor Niederbach, C, Frölunda (SuperElit), #66: Niederbach was not on many draft radars to start the season, due an injury that kept him out all of last season. But he returned and had a phenomenal draft year playing on the same team as Karl Henriksson, who the Rangers selected with one of their second-round picks in the 2019 NHL Draft. Like Henriksson, Niederbach is a highly skilled player who tends to pass the puck more than he likes to shoot it so naturally, he is a perfect fit for the Rangers. Bobrov and his scouts likely had more exposure to Niederbach than most scouting staffs, so I could see Niederbach being high on the Rangers’ draft board. I could see the Rangers targeting Niederbach with one of their third-round picks.
5. Veeti Miettinen, RW, Espoo (SM-sarja), Not Ranked: Miettinen’s omission from these rankings entirely is hard to justify. He is, perhaps, a victim of his own decision-making. Miettinen was the leading scorer in Finland’s U20 junior league with 73 points in 52 games, and finished second in points per game. Miettinen is taking an unusual route though, as he will be attending St. Cloud State next season to play NCAA hockey. Due to issues with NCAA eligibility, Miettinen was not allowed to play in Liiga or Mestis, Finlands first and second-tier professional leagues respectively. This is interesting to note when comparing his non-ranking to Kasper Simontaival (78), who scored at a significantly inferior rate to Miettinen but showed well in his 6-game stint in Mestis. Simontaival is another player I believe the Rangers will like a lot more than most, but the point is that professional exposure seems to be the key for Finnish players to get ranked. The Rangers tend to value performances in Finland’s junior league, and I think they will like Miettinen a lot.

This is an unorthodox year in every possible way, and NHL teams have had to adjust their scouting approach for this draft class. Nevertheless, every draft nerd out there looks forward to the release of McKenzie’s draft rankings, and I hope this analysis offers some strong insights into this unique and talented draft class.

Disclaimer: Each player listed is European, which I realized after writing this. This was not intentional and was based on the Rangers drafting trends since the rebuild began in 2017. I have plenty of North American-based targets in mind for the Rangers, which I will write about soon.