Quinnipiac Bobcats Offer Intriguing Prospects For Rangers To Sign, Draft, Acquire
Why the New York Rangers should keep tabs on the Quinnipiac Bobcats as the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey season enters tournament play.
Collin Graf (Undrafted/Unsigned)
Collin Graf tops every college free agent signing list ahead of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Lincoln, Massachusetts native is fifth in the NCAA in points with, notching 46 tallies (20 goals, 26 assists) in 29 games.
Top five, point scorer, national champion, yet undrafted and free to sign.
The junior would likely be a top three-point leader in college hockey if not for an injury that sidelined him at the home opener and championship banner-raising against the juggernaut Boston College on October 16th.
The "York Hill Boys" lines catalyst is as dynamic and versatile as they come. His ability to accelerate and reload through the neutral zone allows him to find seams and create separation from opponents. He isn't an in-the-trenches anchor, but he can pick pockets and steal pucks with an active stick.
Graf skated in 2021-2022 with the Union Dutchmen (now the Union Garnet Chargers), where he posted 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists). The struggling ECAC program finished that season 9-11-2, and the departure of his main recruiter, head coach Rick Bennett, led Graf to enter the transfer portal, trading in a garnet sweater for gold.
At Quinnipiac he would reach his full potential, tying the Bobcat all-time single-season points record (59) on a game-tying goal in the 2023 National Championship. He has amassed 105 points (41 goals, 64 assists) in two seasons as a Hamden Heavyweight.
Jacob Quillan (Undrafted/Unsigned)
Jacob "The Jet" Quillan was the MVP of the 2023 Frozen Four, outshining Hobey Baker winner Adam Fantilli, as well as top NHL draft picks Logan Cooley, Luke Hughes, Matthew Knies, Jimmy Snuggerud, and even his own team's white hope Yaniv Perets.
He's continued to turn out monster performances at center, standing at 6'0 tall and playing a 200-foot game. Those attributes translate into a depth piece at the NHL level.
Although Mark Divver reported on Feb. 23rd that the Hurricanes, Islanders Panthers, and Senators were scouting “The Jet” at Brown University, the New York Rangers should consider sending scouts up the Merritt Parkway to scout No.16.
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“He'll be a great penalty killer, 200-foot player. A big thing for him is he brings it every game. ... very consistent with his compete level, very detailed, does a lot of things well", head coach Rand Pecknold told the New England Hockey Journal.
Shortly after the Bobcat's championship, the stock of the individual skaters quickly ascended into a new frontier. When Quillan's promising linemate and Arizona Coyotes prospect Sam Lipkin opted to stay in Hamden for another season, Quillan and Graf quickly followed suit and announced their return on the same day.
The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia native was set to attend the Winnipeg Jets development training camp last summer, but shoulder surgery nixed the opportunity.
The Islanders have the Bridgeport connection, which landed the organization Devon Toews in the 2014 NHL draft. Toews's connection to Hamden is still so strong he bought the team dinner on their first night in Tampa ahead of the 2023 Frozen Four.
Quillan may make the jump from the ECAC to the NHL as soon as Quinnipiac season is over.
Cristophe Tellier & Christophe Fillion (Undrafted/Unsigned)
The "Sherbrooke Boys" duo carry a Sedin-twin-like energy that has come through for the Bobcats in the most crucial moments over the past two seasons.
Both players grew up playing with each other from childhood, to the USHL, and now for the Bobcats. They were recruited as a package deal, although they are a year apart in age. Mostly unimpactful in 2021-2022, the two linemates exploded in 2022-2023 (MORE HERE).
🏒🔉"I think we have good chemistry...we just try and keep it simple, move our feet, and I think that's what we do best."
— Q30 Sports (@Q30Sports) April 5, 2023
Christophe Fillion & Cristophe Tellier, both natives of Sherbrooke, Quebec have been key contributors to the Bobcats success.
(@mugnoma) #NCAAHockey pic.twitter.com/Fiedf5hd9E
Tellier has a sweet pair of mitts that can control the pace of play, and dissect forecheckers, neutral zone back checkers, and defenders in isolated matchups and off the rush. His crafty hands are undeniably an addition any organization would like to fill out at any level.
Fillion is a workhorse and a puck hunter that is responsible in all three zones and generates telepathic plays with Tellier at his wings opposite. His drive and work off the boards and in the corners stand out, and his genetic vigor makes for a premium role player.
Tellier has 50 points (15 goals, 35 assists) in three seasons, while Fillion has 52 points (23 goals, 29 assists) in four seasons. The pair has a unique connection which is a rare find worth investing in. They may be players to take a chance on as low-risk, high-reward additions.
Charles-Alexis Legault (2023 139th Overall, Carolina Hurricanes)
Legault's 6'3 frame projects as an NHL-sized rearguard. Add to that his 30 career points, and nine goals this season as a sophomore and those attributes equal a promising bottom pair-defender.
If the Rangers had interest, they would have to swap with the Carolina Hurricanes, a move that Don Waddell might avoid following the last time the two clubs dealt an ECAC defender for draft picks.
The Quebec native may not be Adam Fox, but the Carolina Hurricanes drafted him in large part because of head coach Rod Brind'Amour and his connections to the Bobcats program.
Brind'Amour attended a handful of games at the M&T Bank Arena to watch his son, Skylar, play for the Bobcats from 2019 to 2023. He attended the Frozen Four and was at the scene of the National Championship victory, quickly signing Yaniv Perets to an ELC two days later. Three months after that, Legault was drafted by the organization.
Pecknold has spoken about partaking in cohorts where Brind'Armour presented power play systems to fellow coaches, the two building a relationship as bench bosses.
Trading for Legault may allow the team to plug in another young prospect alongside Braden Schneider if they opt not to return Erik Gustafsson. The big body may earn more looks than Zac Jones based on his size alone.
Sam Lipkin (2021 223rd Overall, Arizona Coyotes)
The right wing on the " York Hill Boys" line is a valued piece of the Arizona Coyote's management. A trade for Lipkin would require a combination of valuable draft capital and a prospect.
A club can never have enough wingers, and like the other players on this list, Lipkin's ceiling at the NHL level could smash where he was initially recruited and drafted.
The Bobcats wanted Lipkin to return since they lost six veteran forwards to professional contracts. The Philadelphia native saw another year of development as beneficial rather than heading into the AHL.
The Coyotes drafted Lipkin out of the USHL Chicago Steel after his Clark Cup Championship season in 2021. That was before he finished 13th in NCAA point scoring last season, racking up 43 points en route to Quinnipiac's first NCAA championship in school history. He also skated in the 2022 IIHF WJC earning a bronze medal for Team USA.
A recruit of his caliber would likely be drafted higher than the seventh round with his current resume.
"Sam made a great, educated decision. He wanted to be a year away from pro hockey and use that year to get stronger, bigger, and faster so that when he came in he had a better chance. I’m not going to disagree with him," said Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong to Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports.
"He’s going back to a great school in Quinnipiac. They do a great job and he’s going to be one of the leaders. He’s going to have a bigger role, but he’s someone that we’re extremely excited about. He reminds me a little bit of Michael Bunting in the way he plays and complements the skill, but he can make the play when it’s there.”
The Rangers have a drop off in their winger prospects after Brennan Othmann, Gabriel Perreault, and Brett Berard. For a more complete player, the Rangers could look to acquire Lipkin in a deal.
Mason Marcellus (Undrafted)
Marcellus personifies the upward trajectory of the program in the landscape of college hockey. He is a player who immediately should be on the draft radar for his dazzling finesse and levels of production.
As a freshman, the Greely, Ontario native has 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists). That is good for fourth on the team behind Graf, Quillan, and Lipkin.
The former USHL Lincoln Stars captain entered a Bobcats lineup that lost six forwards from its championship team last season and immediately made an impact.
With a late-round draft pick, Marcellus could be a player that blossoms the way Graf has under the guise of the QU coaching staff. The way No. 20 in gold has played as a first-year may surpass Graf's elite play by the time he is a junior.