A preview of Rangers prospects at the 2021 World Juniors

The Rangers love their American players, and will have two prospects playing on this year’s Team USA

The Rangers, however, are far from unfamiliar with having players on the American world junior team. Last season the Rangers had two players make that team, K’Andre Miller and Zac Jones. This year, the Rangers will once again send two players to represent the United States. Rangers 2020 fifth round pick Brett Berard made the final roster, as did 2019 fourth round pick Hunter Skinner.

Berard’s inclusion is not totally surprising, due to his performance last season with the U18 NTDP group, where he was one of the team’s better forwards. His role at the tournament should be minimal, but this will be a good experience for next year’s tournament, where Berard should have a prominent role.

Skinner was a bit of a surprise inclusion because he is listed as the ninth defenseman and was not actually included on the preliminary roster. I suspect his inclusion was due to the Covid related departures of forwards Thomas Bordeleau and John Beecher. The US does not have a better scoring threat on the right hand side than Skinner, so it’s possible he will force his way into a more prominent role in the team. But he will have to take his chance whenever he gets it.

Those are the four Rangers affiliated prospects playing in the tournament. The tournament begins on December 25, and is televised on NHL Network (or TSN for any Canada-based readers). USA’s first game is against Russia at 9:30pm EST on the 25th, and Canada kicks off their tournament on Boxing Day (the 26th) against Germany at 6PM EST. Enjoy the tournament, keep safe, and Happy Holidays!