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5 Prospects the New York Rangers Should Draft in the First Round

By Conor Power

NY Rangers (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
NY Rangers (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /
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LANGLEY, BRITISH COLUMBIA – JANUARY 24: Forward Ethan Gauthier #79 of the Sherbrooke Phoenix skates for Team White during the 2023 Kubota CHL Top Prospects Game Practice at the Langley Events Centre on January 24, 2023, in Langley, British Columbia. (Photo by Dennis Pajot/Getty Images)
LANGLEY, BRITISH COLUMBIA – JANUARY 24: Forward Ethan Gauthier #79 of the Sherbrooke Phoenix skates for Team White during the 2023 Kubota CHL Top Prospects Game Practice at the Langley Events Centre on January 24, 2023, in Langley, British Columbia. (Photo by Dennis Pajot/Getty Images) /

Ethan Gauthier

There would be a lot of irony in seeing the Rangers use a pick that they kept because they put a condition on it that they had to win a round to select the cousin of a player they traded away at the same time as they protected the pick, but that could very much be the case with the cousin of former New York Ranger Julien Gauthier, Ethan Gauthier. In fact, Ethan is from a strong hockey family with his father Dennis playing in the league for a decade.

Ethan doesn’t quite have all the tools Julien had at his disposal as a Ranger. Julien had that size to go with the speed. Ethan is just 5’11 and while he will probably grow since he is just 18 years old, that 175 lbs weight is not going to impress some of the older hockey minds. It also doesn’t help that he is not the fleetest of foot which is the biggest thing in the modern NHL.

What Gauthier does well is work. He will hit the ice and immediately go into the forecheck, he’ll go after guys and get under their skin. He’s never going to be the guy that mails it in early and tries to get an extended break. He’s going to fight for every puck, every inch of space, every deflection, anything he can just to be annoying and it is going to have a ton of teams interested in his services at the draft.

In 66 games in the QMJHL, Ethan tallied 30 goals and 39 assists for 69 points. It truly was a nice season for him. But this only has him on the draft boards as high as 16th. EliteProspects put him at 30th so it really does depend on who you ask. This is another guy that is going to be interesting to watch because he has a really bright future in this league.

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