Prospect Info: 2013-2014 Rangers Prospects Thread *Part III* (Player Stats in Post #1; Updated 4/8)

[Levitate]

Edmonton is not in an enviable situation and it just doesn't work like "draft the top players and you'll be a power house team for decades!", especially when the team is run like the Oilers are. They're probably more poorly managed than the Islanders, who at least have put together a pretty solid overall roster when healthy (except for goaltending).

Edmonton is run by idiots and their team is an outright disaster that plays every game like this is junior hockey, they have no depth to speak of, no defense worth a good ******* currently, no goaltending, no experience and leadership, and their top players have no clue how to play real effective NHL hockey.

They have a massive amount of work to do in order to become a competitive hockey team including a huge roster overhaul and at some point actually learning how to play NHL hockey because right now it's questionable whether anyone on that team has a clue how to actually do that.

 

[nyr2k2]

McCarthy will join the Wolf Pack.

Jean, who sucks, is down to Greenville.

 

[StepansLabyrinth]

But yeah, Girardi is certainly special. An All Star-caliber player out of an UDFA? You can probably count on two hands how often that has happened in the past couple decades.

Girardi, MSL, Dan Boyle, Ed Belfour, Chris Kunitz, Adam Oates, Andy McDonald, Joe Mullen, Bobrovsky, etc. It's rare but not that uncommon. It seems like goalies are the most likely to come out of nowhere (Cam Talbot?). But it's becoming increasingly rare as scouting gets better. What you hope for when you draft these guys is that they turn out to be productive NHL players.

If we get a Rene Bourque, Ruslan Fedotenko, or Chad LaRose out of these signings, it was totally worth it. If any of the guys we sign turn out to be a third liner, it's a huge success. You'd hope the same out of any 2nd round draft pick.

 

[nyr2k2]

Girardi, MSL, Dan Boyle, Ed Belfour, Chris Kunitz, Adam Oates, Andy McDonald, Joe Mullen, Bobrovsky, etc. It's rare but not that uncommon. It seems like goalies are the most likely to come out of nowhere (Cam Talbot?). But it's becoming increasingly rare as scouting gets better. What you hope for when you draft these guys is that they turn out to be productive NHL players.

If we get a Rene Bourque, Ruslan Fedotenko, or Chad LaRose out of these signings, it was totally worth it. If any of the guys we sign turn out to be a third liner, it's a huge success. You'd hope the same out of any 2nd round draft pick.

Ed Belfour was signed in 87. Oates in 1984. Joe Mullen in 1979! I said the past two decades. Hell, even St. Louis was signed 15 years ago.

You're right, as scouting gets even better and more thorough, it's increasingly rare.

 

[RangerBoy]

A big component of the Gophers success at the regional was the ability for the defense to stymie St. Cloud State's quality forwards.

"I think the key for us is the emergence of Mike Reilly and Brady Skjei," coach Lucia said. "Both those guys have really improved from last year."

http://www.gophersports.com/blog/2014/04/gophers-meet-the-media-frozen-four.html

Nate Schmidt and Mark Alt turned pro. Seth Halgeson graduated. Don Lucia said at the end of last season that he expected Brady Skjei and Mike Reilly to take on greater roles for this season. Justin Holl moved back to defense from forward.

 

[frisland]

We also have that small Norwegian fellow who was an undrafted FA.

 

[nyr2k2]

We also have that small Norwegian fellow who was an undrafted FA.

I think as we move forward, the majority of the top UDFA players will be guys like Zuccarello playing in Europe. The NCAA and CHL are so heavily scouted, it's increasingly rare that guys slip through the cracks. Unless it's something like a late growth spurt that causes an undersized 5'9" skill guy to suddenly become a strapping 6' banger, there's little chance of a guy going unnoticed. Zuccarello played his draft years in Norway, and didn't get the exposure he would have otherwise. If he was 16 or 17 and playing in the USHL, he might have been regarded like a Rocco Grimaldi. There's also the issue of drafting a guy playing in his native country in the middle rounds, not knowing if he'll ever want to comes to North America.

 

[nyr2k2]

Donnay had an assist for Erie last night, and was +2. Erie is up 1-0 on Sault Ste. Marie in their second round playoff series.

Skapski and Kootenay open up their series against Medicine Hat on Saturday. Skapski was brutal his first four playoff games and may have lost the starting job to Wyatt Hoflin.

Graves and Val-d'Or open up against Drummondville tomorrow night. It should be great series, the teams were separated by four point in the standings and both went into the playoffs red-hot. That will be good for fans of the Q, as 5 of the 8 first-round series were sweeps, and two others ended 4-1.

 

[eco's bones]

I think as we move forward, the majority of the top UDFA players will be guys like Zuccarello playing in Europe. The NCAA and CHL are so heavily scouted, it's increasingly rare that guys slip through the cracks. Unless it's something like a late growth spurt that causes an undersized 5'9" skill guy to suddenly become a strapping 6' banger, there's little chance of a guy going unnoticed. Zuccarello played his draft years in Norway, and didn't get the exposure he would have otherwise. If he was 16 or 17 and playing in the USHL, he might have been regarded like a Rocco Grimaldi. There's also the issue of drafting a guy playing in his native country in the middle rounds, not knowing if he'll ever want to comes to North America.

I'm not sure about that. In part the draft is the shortest it's ever been--7 rounds and we're still talking primarily about 18 year olds almost all of whom are underdeveloped. Past a couple--three rounds usually it's all guesswork. I'd argue the opposite at least for college players--most of whom will be 23/24 if they play their full 4 years. A player can be drafted in the 3rd-4th round these days as an 18 year old and go into a feeder league because their Div 1 school hasn't got a spot with them or doesn't think they're ready to play--Steven Fogarty would be an example of that. It's not uncommon. Tambellini this year struggled mightily and he was a year older. Guys like Kreider or Stepan who go from being drafted straight to their college teams are exceptions to the rule now.

 

[Staxgod90]

Rangers signed Justin Baker apparently?

 

[Fitzy]

Rangers signed Justin Baker apparently?

Hartford did, if my sources are correct. AHL ATO.

 

[Raspewtin]

Donnay had an assist for Erie last night, and was +2. Erie is up 1-0 on Sault Ste. Marie in their second round playoff series.

Skapski and Kootenay open up their series against Medicine Hat on Saturday. Skapski was brutal his first four playoff games and may have lost the starting job to Wyatt Hoflin.

Graves and Val-d'Or open up against Drummondville tomorrow night. It should be great series, the teams were separated by four point in the standings and both went into the playoffs red-hot. That will be good for fans of the Q, as 5 of the 8 first-round series were sweeps, and two others ended 4-1.

I'm still irritated by Quebec being ousted by Rouyn-Noranda. Even with no Duclair they should have at least took it to 7 games.

Val-d'Or should go deep. I see them making the finals. They are deeper and largely a faster team than Drummondville.

 

[McDonagh]

Quebec to host Memorial Cup next year, good for Duclair.*

*Assuming he doesn't pull off the improbable and make the NHL

 

[Staxgod90]

Hartford did, if my sources are correct. AHL ATO.

yeah you're right. I just figure I group them together since Hartford is the AHL affiliate

 

[Leetch3]

Quebec to host Memorial Cup next year, good for Duclair.*

*Assuming he doesn't pull off the improbable and make the NHL

that will be a great experience for him...

potential trade off/downside is that if quebec gets knocked off early in the Q playoffs, he won't be eligible to go to hartford cause his junior year isn't over. and the host team could end up sitting round for 2 months waiting while the other teams in the memorial cup are playing playoff games.

 

[SergeConstantin74]

Quebec to host Memorial Cup next year, good for Duclair.*

*Assuming he doesn't pull off the improbable and make the NHL

Lol. That would be brutal for Quebec.

 

[Joey Bones]

Does anyone think the NYR will sign Jeff Malcolm to an NHL deal? The lack of goaltending has been a problem for too many years now, IMO, and assuming that they don't bring back Missiaen, Stajcer, and LeNeveu they would only have Skapski as a signed goalie in the system. He also isn't having a good playoffs with Kootenay. Malcolm has been pretty good in the ECHL and decent in the AHL this year. I think he can improve and worth a shot. only 24 years of age, too? What do you guys think? Maybe look at Ryan Faragher again?

 

[Beacon]

Does anyone think the NYR will sign Jeff Malcolm to an NHL deal? The lack of goaltending has been a problem for too many years now, IMO, and assuming that they don't bring back Missiaen, Stajcer, and LeNeveu they would only have Skapski as a signed goalie in the system. He also isn't having a good playoffs with Kootenay. Malcolm has been pretty good in the ECHL and decent in the AHL this year. I think he can improve and worth a shot. only 24 years of age, too? What do you guys think? Maybe look at Ryan Faragher again?

What lack of goaltending? Lundqvist is a superstar and Talbot is a tremendous backup, which I am basing not just on his NHL play, but watching him for years in the AHL as well. If Lundqvist gets injured, Talbot is more than capable of playing every game for a long time (he played something like 30 games in a row in Hartford last season) while someone like Grumet-Morris will be the backup sitting and watching. If Lundqvist is out for such a long time that we need another goalie, then we can acquire a backup for a 3rd or 4th rounder to play once a month. Or we can sign someone like Bryzgalov who is looking for NHL work.

We have no goalie problem. But if we did, Malcolm would not be the solution. He's significantly worse than Grumet-Morris, who'd be a far better option to start in the NHL.

 

[Joey Bones]

What lack of goaltending? Lundqvist is a superstar and Talbot is a tremendous backup, which I am basing not just on his NHL play, but watching him for years in the AHL as well. If Lundqvist gets injured, Talbot is more than capable of playing every game for a long time (he played something like 30 games in a row in Hartford last season) while someone like Grumet-Morris will be the backup sitting and watching. If Lundqvist is out for such a long time that we need another goalie, then we can acquire a backup for a 3rd or 4th rounder to play once a month. Or we can sign someone like Bryzgalov who is looking for NHL work.

We have no goalie problem. But if we did, Malcolm would not be the solution. He's significantly worse than Grumet-Morris, who'd be a far better option to start in the NHL.

Apologies I should've been more precise, but I meant lack of goaltending depth in the system. Talbot & Lundqvist are completely fine, but after that is a drop off & since DGM is on an AHL contract that person to call up just in case of injury would be LeNeveu. Now that was just an assumption that LeNeveu, Missiaen, & Stajcer would be gone next year so I thought since Malcolm is still relatively young & has shown good numbers in the ECHL & if we give him a shot, see if he can progress his development. Was just a thought.

 

[Fitzy]

If your concern is for having a slightly competent NHL backup in case of an injury to either Lundqvist or Talbot, Malcolm isn't the guy you're looking at. He's still developing.

The plan should be to not resign Stajcer or Missiaen, and give Grumet-Morris (Or a similar accomplished AHL goalie, maybe McKenna) to a NHL deal.

 

[Bardof425*]

http://www.gophersports.com/blog/2014/04/gophers-meet-the-media-frozen-four.html

Nate Schmidt and Mark Alt turned pro. Seth Halgeson graduated. Don Lucia said at the end of last season that he expected Brady Skjei and Mike Reilly to take on greater roles for this season. Justin Holl moved back to defense from forward.

I always find it funny to read all the wonderful press Reilly gets. He's a giveaway machine. His defense is weak but he can lug the puck and make things happen in the O zone. But the idea that somehow he's a reliable defender is a joke.

 

[Joey Bones]

If your concern is for having a slightly competent NHL backup in case of an injury to either Lundqvist or Talbot, Malcolm isn't the guy you're looking at. He's still developing.

The plan should be to not resign Stajcer or Missiaen, and give Grumet-Morris (Or a similar accomplished AHL goalie, maybe McKenna) to a NHL deal.

No no the concern is for lack of young goalies in our system. If an injury were to happen, then it's all the more reason to sign DGM, or a McKenna. Obviously Malcolm is still developing and seeing that he has shown good numbers in the ECHL, we could sign him to kind of be mentored by the vet goaltender we have in the AHL. Help his development a bit. But I'm not only saying this to Malcolm. Maybe we can bring in a young FA like Faragher, too. This is just a thought and me saying to sign Malcolm or a younger goalie with upside to help out our system.

 

[bobbop]

As far as Edmonton goes, it may sound like a joke right now, but I would rather be in their shoes than ours. They will be a tremendous team as their kids mature. Three first overall picks, (likely) a second overall this season, Eberle, Perron, Gagner, Schultz, and a great group of prospects like Nurse, Klefbom, Roy, etc.

Once they acquire a goalie (at least one starter is available every season) and allow their kids and prospects to mature, they will be a hell of a team for a long time. I see Edmonton as a permanent Cup contender for a decade starting in a couple of seasons.

No you wouldn't and no they won't. Poorly constructed core, no veteran leadership and only 6-7 NHL caliber players. They are like a third world country -- 4-5 very good players and little else. It won't be long before top flight players are looking to relocate elsewhere.

 

[UAGoalieGuy]

Lol no Rangers prospect even made HF's honorable mention list.

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

New nhl prospect

Obviously jt miller is the closest to nhl level but who else could challenge for a full time spot on the roster next year? I don't get to watch the ahl games. Any one that does know how oscar lindberg and Jesper fast are doing? I found it extremely interesting that fast made camp and played for 8 games then never was called up again. What happened that jt miller then over came him for call ups?