It was a pretty frustrating week for the New York Rangers prospects as nobody really stood out with their performances. Nor was there anyone whose offensive performances that stood out.
Just as the prospects who were injured returned to their team's lineup then another two missed games on Saturday for reasons that have not been disclosed as of press time. These days when it comes to learning what has happened to a player, the lack of information almost comes across as borderline classified information as the media or fans have the right to know.
Brody Lamb of the Minnesota Golden Gophers played in Friday's game against Notre Dame and recorded his prospect leading ninth goal of the season. But Lamb was not in the Minnesota lineup on Saturday and efforts to learn why failed.
Lamb getting injured would be a huge blow to the breakout season he has been having. As a sophomore, Lamb scored 12 goals in 39 games. But this season, Lamb had score nine goals in just 13 games and was on a pace to score a career best 27 goals.
Even better was that Lamb had six power play goals and if the 2021 fourth-round pick wanted to attract attention from the Rangers; then becoming a power play specialist was a good route for him to take.
Hank Kempf isn't any kind of offensive weapon of any kind, he happens to be a stay-at-home defenseman, another area where the Rangers desperately need help in. Kempf was the seventh-round pick in the 2021 draft and is a senior playing for Cornell of the ECAC.
Kempf is known more for his shot blocking as he reminds us of Dan Girardi and how he played defense. If you were looking for offense from Kempf then you are mistaken as in 105 games at Cornell, Kempf has all of two goals and 18 assists.
But on defense, Kempf last season alone had 57 blocked shots in 35 games. The Rangers have very few home grown defensive talent in their system which is why Kempf remains a prospect to watch.
The Prospect Leaders
Raoul Boilard remains the leader among Rangers prospects in scoring with a 5-16-21 in 23 games. He had a quiet week with just two assists, but he struggled with his faceoffs going 25-40 which dropped his season percentage to 53.7%.
Gabe Perreault was 1-4-5 in three games this past week. Friday night, Perreault showed why he is one of the best playmakers in NCAA hockey with a setup pass where he faked the other goalie into freezing which left a wide-open net for his linemate to score on.
Perreault is second among the Ranger prospects in scoring with a 6-12-18 which is tied for fifth among NCAA scorers. It would a shock if Perreault is not on Broadway next season as he has the best passing skill set among Rangers prospects.
Nathan Aspinall returned to the Flint Firebirds lineup after missing five games on Friday. He did not score on Friday but got his first goal in six games on Saturday.
Aspinall is 7-7-14 which places him in a tie for third among the Rangers prospects and second among the goal scorers with seven goals.
E. J. Emery may only have one assist to show for his offensive output but his 15 blocked shots lead the Rangers prospects. As mentioned here before the comparisons to K'Andre Miller are mistaken as Emery is a defensive specialist unlike Miller.
The Rest of the Prospects
Noah Laba missed five games and he is slowly getting back to the player he was expected to be.
Drew Fortescue remains a defensive force for Boston College but he sacrifices his own offense to cover for his defensive partner.
Ty Henricks may be a fourth-liner as a freshman for Western Michigan but they are one of the top teams in NCAA hockey. Henricks time will come.
Rasmus Larsson is playing on a rebuilding Northern Michigan team which replaced 16 players after their coach left to become the Hartford Wolfpack head coach. They are going through some serious growing pains with just one win to show for it.
Zakary Karpa is the captain of the Harvard team, but the senior center has not shown anything that suggests that he is NHL material. Karpa will not see a contract from the Rangers.