One of the more recent trends that the New York Rangers under general manager Chris Drury has been to look to draft players who play on winning teams. The idea, obviously, is that players who come from winning programs have already learned what it takes to win and are willing to put in the hard work.
If you were to look at which teams the Rangers prospects are playing for, then it might come as a surprise that most are playing for some of the top teams in the NCAA Division I. When this current week's USA Hockey/the Rink Live poll came out, there were eight of the nine prospects playing in the NCAA on teams ranked in the top 20.
Even better was that seven of those eight prospects were on teams ranked in the top eleven spots in this week's poll. These prospects are playing in the top hockey conferences in the NCAA, and it will hopefully pay dividends soon for the Rangers.
Now before you dismiss this as meaningless consider this; these top programs are playing in some of the best hockey conferences in the US. Their teams play the toughest schedules in the NCAAs, and it helps prepare them as they advance to play professional hockey.
It starts with Gabe Perreault and Drew Fortescue who play for No. 2 Boston College. At 7-1, this team was last season's NCAA runner ups, and it should not be a surprise that they also happen to be two of the Rangers' best prospects.
It seems like every weekend; Boston College is playing against a high-quality opponent whether it is a fellow Hockey East team or a top non-conference foe. In this week's poll there are five other members of the Hockey East that are ranked in the top twenty.
Tied for third in the poll is Brody Lamb's Minnesota's Golden Gophers of the Big Ten who are 9-1. The Gophers have been fueled in part by Lamb off to a career best season at 6-5-11.
Lamb is in his junior season and to give you an idea how much he has improved, last season in 39 games Lamb recorded a 12-15-27 season. Lamb is already on pace to have a 23-20-43 season.
One last Lamb stat and that is of his six goals, five of which have come on the power play which is an area where the Rangers can always use help in.
At No. 5, you find Hank Kempf and his Cornell Big Red as they are just 3-0-1 but two of those wins came against No. 10 North Dakota. The senior defenseman Kempf has grown over the last two seasons as the shutdown specialist has elevated his game.
No you won't see big offensive numbers from him, but you will see numbers like 59 blocked shots in 26 games. Kempf was also one of the finalists last season for the ECAC Defenseman of the Year award.
If you are not busy on November 30th then you might consider attending Cornell to play in the annual "Frozen Apple" hockey game at Madison Square Garden against No. 19 Quinnipiac. If you have never attended a college hockey game, then this one might be the best one to be your first.
Noah Laba has missed five of his eighth-ranked Colorado College's games but Colorado College boast the NCAA's second best record at 8-0. Laba was a prospect that Chris Drury badly wanted to sign last spring but Laba wanted to help Colorado College make it back to the NCAA tournament.
When healthy Laba is Colorado College's No. 1 center as well as their leading scorer. Currently dealing with what is rumored to be a bad ankle, Laba is listed as "day-to-day".
2024 first-round pick E. J. Emery is playing for No. 10 North Dakota and while their record is just 5-4, don't let that fool you. North Dakota has played the toughest schedule of anyone in the NCAA.
Five of those nine games have come against ranked teams and there is no shame in having a 2-3 record while playing against the top ten teams. Emery may only have one point, but he does have 13 blocked shots and is a plus-6.
You can also stop listening to anyone who compares Emery to K'Andre Miller as Emery at 18 is already worlds ahead of Miller ever was on defense. He's smart, has great vision, plays very physically and is very protective of his teammates.
29 other National Hockey League general managers are going to regret not drafting Emery. Rangers fans will be happy that the team did grab him.
The last name on this list Ty Henricks, who is playing for No. 11 Western Michigan. If you wonder who they are; they play in the same conference (NCHC) as Emery and Noah Laba.
They are 5-1 and the one loss was to Boston College on the road. Henricks is a freshman, 6'5" 200 pound left wing who is a bit of a project as just a freshman. Right now, Henricks is the fourth-line left wing but give him a little time and this natural scorer will move up in the lines.
At No. 19 you will find Zakary Karpa and his Harvard Crimson who are bit of a surprise. But, both of their wins are against ranked teams. And if the name Karpa sounds familiar, it should. This is the son of former Ranger Dave Karpa.
His son is a center and the captain of the Harvard team. Zakary is the third line center, and he typically faces the other team's best center every game.
Karpa will likely remind older Ranger fans of Craig MacTavish because this is the player you want on the ice in the last minute to take a faceoff in the defensive zone.