Blue Line Station
Fansided

Three NCAA Free Agents the Rangers should target

By Conor Power

LAVAL, QC - OCTOBER 30: Danny O'Regan #65 of the Hartford Wolf Pack skates against the Laval Rocket during the third period at Place Bell on October 30, 2019 in Laval, Canada. The Laval Rocket defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack 4-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
LAVAL, QC - OCTOBER 30: Danny O'Regan #65 of the Hartford Wolf Pack skates against the Laval Rocket during the third period at Place Bell on October 30, 2019 in Laval, Canada. The Laval Rocket defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack 4-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
BRIDGEPORT, CT – MARCH 24: Collin Graf #11 of the Quinnipiac Bobcats skates against the Merrimack Warriors during the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Regional Championship Semifinal at Total Mortgage Arena on March 24, 2023, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The Bobcats won 5-0. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)
BRIDGEPORT, CT – MARCH 24: Collin Graf #11 of the Quinnipiac Bobcats skates against the Merrimack Warriors during the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Regional Championship Semifinal at Total Mortgage Arena on March 24, 2023, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The Bobcats won 5-0. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images) /

Collin Graf

Unlike a lot of the other free agents I will talk about, Collin Graf is someone that has shown a ton of potential this season. After transferring during the off-season from Union College to Quinnipiac, Graf has seen himself become one of the most dominant players in all of the NCAA as the right-winger is currently the second highest producing player across the NCAA. He’s had a remarkable transformation.

Currently sitting on 20 goals, and 36 assists for 56 points ahead of Quinnipiac’s frozen four venture at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, this is a player that has shown that he can compete with the best. He’s a smart player with good hands and that makes him an offensive threat already. You don’t need to be particularly mobile if you know where to be and we see that with grizzled NHL veterans all the time.

Graf is quite mobile but there is a drawback. At just 6’0, 170 lbs, he needs time to put on the muscle and weight to play at the highest level. Now, I wouldn’t include an undersized player in here for no reason so there must be some redeeming factor right? There is and we’ll get to it, but there’s still some work to be done with a player like this before they could sniff the ice at Madison Square Garden anyway.

So what’s the positive? Graf is just 20 years old. There’s so much room for growth moving forward and a player this young is starting to assert himself on the NCAA already is a sign that maybe this player needs to see a step up in the degree of competition. Or perhaps his linemates at Quinnipiac have helped boost his stats artificially and Graf will never be anything. The beauty of the entry-level contract is that it is basically no risk.

Home/Free Agency