Prospect Info: Rangers Prospects Thread (Stats in Post #1; Updated 5.29.18)

[Ola]

I’d agree with that about Hajek. He’s more of a steady eddie kind of guy that will give you a known product when he’s out on the ice. He’ll work well with most players because his game is very translatable, but he won’t necessarily carry his partner. He doesn’t have that dynamic quality to take over a game, which is why I mentioned Ekholm- Ekholm doesn’t drive play for the Preds, but he’s steady and reliable every shift. He doesn’t have that extra gear like Subban and Josi.

Still surprised that he said he tries to play like Kaberle. Could just be a childhood idol situation (and again, I fee super old this week).

Yeah, and Kaberle was big in the Czech Rep when he peaked and that of course carried over. Around the time the below by Ken Campbell was written he was really good, although can’t believe Hajek remembers much of it he was like what 8-10 y/o...

 

[Vitto79]

I think both Gilmour and Pionk looked sharper and quicker than DeAngelo. DeAngelo was a big disappointment I don't understand what our scouts were thinking. Never understood why we traded for him.

I’m only confident in Pionk . DeAngelo as a righty likely gets a look but I don’t think he’s going to turn out

Gilmour is a call up guy only imo

 

[Harbour Dog]

I'll bite here. Think this might be my first deviation of opinion w/ this guy - no offense intended just have a different evaluation of the above.

Pionk - I love that kid. I think he's a roster lock, probably a top 4 lock. His hockey sense is through the roof, he competes his tail off and will play physical on the wall, great skater - especially edgewise. He makes nice breakout passes and will lead it skating as well. he's heady in the neutral zone stepping into passes and turning it the other way, has a sneaky great shot in both getting wristers/snaps through to the net and a sneaky great one timer. also comes with awesome hand eye coordination and seems to break up every single odd man rush that comes down on him. sure he'll have some moments every year when he loses leverage/board battles to a bigger guy that lead to goals against, but those will only happen when our 5 man unit is pinned in our zone and as such are largely avoidable. by an large he's even great in board battles w/ the way he uses leverage. to me he's at worst torey krug and at best brian rafalski.

tony d - he showed some flashes, but i have a lot of concerns about this kid. first - mentally - is he all there all the time? to date i don't think so. he's also 21/22, so its not like there can't be growth and maturity there. but even beyond that, i just didn't personally see much out of him that gave me hope for the future. the biggest thing was skating, he does look to me like he gained a lot especially in upper body muscle since he was drafted. i don't think thats ideal, and i dont understand how any coach allows that to happen. who, in the history of hockey, has added significant upper body weight and shown positive development? lean him out and see what level his skill/skating allows him to climb to.

gilmour - he's by far the fastest of the 3. and maybe, maybe the nhl games have turned a light on and he'll come back way more prepared. but he was also, by far, the worst of the 3 defensively. for the most part he looked like someone filling in on d in a mens league game. he was timid about engaging on the wall, he never played a gap well, and his passes up ice when he was settled enough to make them were ... not great. offensively, admittedly he did find/create a lot of chances w/ his skating. he also blew just about every single one, and not only did he do that but on almost every single one he blew it by ripping a shot high and wide that created a breakout pass for the other team. for sure he has some intriguing skills w/ that skating, but at this point he has way too many warts to even have hope of turning into a top 6 guy for me.

No offense taken; I would guess I'm in the minority for how much hope I have for Gilmour's game.

Pionk - I also like the kid a lot. I'd suspect you're right about him being a roster lock at this point (on reputation alone). I'm not quite as confident in him being a future top4 guy, but his future looks to be a bright one. Him and Staal got pinned in their zone quite often as a pairing, and it led to Pionk's positioning and transition games frequently looking bad. From his composure with the puck, strong skating, and assertive 1-on-1 play though; I'm more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Away from Staal he may prove to immediately be a top4 guy.

ADA - Agree entirely. Perhaps leaning a hair more towards optimism, considering what Quinn's system preferences are reported to be.

Gilmour - I think this is where I stray the most. I think that he was as good defensively as Pionk. The problem with Gilmour's defense is that his issues are glaring (1-on-1 play and positioning), but the things he does well don't slap you in the face as much. His board play is very good; he doesn't physically engage the guy as often so it flies under the radar a bit, but he has a quick, precise stick that wins him the puck quite frequently. And then, when he has the puck on his stick, he is hands down the best of the three in the d-zone. Where Pionk's first instinct is to go off the glass, Gilmour's is to use his skating to make room and to carry the puck out of the zone himself. I admit that I probably have a higher value for a guy who can carry the puck out of/into zones well, but it's a big part of the game. For every weak defensive play Gilmour makes, he makes another play that you very rarely see out of Pionk. Offensively, he's easily the worst of the three. If he is going to make a scoring impact at the NHL level, it will be by using his speed to create odd man opportunities as the late man in, and he never did that nearly enough last year.

tl;dr version
Offense - ADA > Pionk >> Gilmour
Defense - Pionk = Gilmour > ADA
Transition - Gilmour >> ADA > Pionk

Just my two cents. I know that I'm in the minority, and that I may be switching camps very early next season, but that's my assessment right now. I couldn't care less about being right, I just hope one of these guys becomes an impactful top4 D for us.

 

[Kakko Schmakko]

No offense taken; I would guess I'm in the minority for how much hope I have for Gilmour's game.

Pionk - I also like the kid a lot. I'd suspect you're right about him being a roster lock at this point (on reputation alone). I'm not quite as confident in him being a future top4 guy, but his future looks to be a bright one. Him and Staal got pinned in their zone quite often as a pairing, and it led to Pionk's positioning and transition games frequently looking bad. From his composure with the puck, strong skating, and assertive 1-on-1 play though; I'm more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Away from Staal he may prove to immediately be a top4 guy.

ADA - Agree entirely. Perhaps leaning a hair more towards optimism, considering what Quinn's system preferences are reported to be.

Gilmour - I think this is where I stray the most. I think that he was as good defensively as Pionk. The problem with Gilmour's defense is that his issues are glaring (1-on-1 play and positioning), but the things he does well don't slap you in the face as much. His board play is very good; he doesn't physically engage the guy as often so it flies under the radar a bit, but he has a quick, precise stick that wins him the puck quite frequently. And then, when he has the puck on his stick, he is hands down the best of the three in the d-zone. Where Pionk's first instinct is to go off the glass, Gilmour's is to use his skating to make room and to carry the puck out of the zone himself. I admit that I probably have a higher value for a guy who can carry the puck out of/into zones well, but it's a big part of the game. For every weak defensive play Gilmour makes, he makes another play that you very rarely see out of Pionk. Offensively, he's easily the worst of the three. If he is going to make a scoring impact at the NHL level, it will be by using his speed to create odd man opportunities as the late man in, and he never did that nearly enough last year.

tl;dr version
Offense - ADA > Pionk >> Gilmour
Defense - Pionk = Gilmour > ADA
Transition - Gilmour >> ADA > Pionk

Just my two cents. I know that I'm in the minority, and that I may be switching camps very early next season, but that's my assessment right now. I couldn't care less about being right, I just hope one of these guys becomes an impactful top4 D for us.

I disagree about ADA's offense and transition being better than either Pionk or Gilmour.

 

[Harbour Dog]

I disagree about ADA's offense and transition being better than either Pionk or Gilmour.

Post-deadline, you may be right.

Having a larger sample size for ADA, where he showed flashes of being high-end in both categories, boosts him in those areas a little for me.

 

[2014nyr]

No offense taken; I would guess I'm in the minority for how much hope I have for Gilmour's game.

Pionk - I also like the kid a lot. I'd suspect you're right about him being a roster lock at this point (on reputation alone). I'm not quite as confident in him being a future top4 guy, but his future looks to be a bright one. Him and Staal got pinned in their zone quite often as a pairing, and it led to Pionk's positioning and transition games frequently looking bad. From his composure with the puck, strong skating, and assertive 1-on-1 play though; I'm more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Away from Staal he may prove to immediately be a top4 guy.

ADA - Agree entirely. Perhaps leaning a hair more towards optimism, considering what Quinn's system preferences are reported to be.

Gilmour - I think this is where I stray the most. I think that he was as good defensively as Pionk. The problem with Gilmour's defense is that his issues are glaring (1-on-1 play and positioning), but the things he does well don't slap you in the face as much. His board play is very good; he doesn't physically engage the guy as often so it flies under the radar a bit, but he has a quick, precise stick that wins him the puck quite frequently. And then, when he has the puck on his stick, he is hands down the best of the three in the d-zone. Where Pionk's first instinct is to go off the glass, Gilmour's is to use his skating to make room and to carry the puck out of the zone himself. I admit that I probably have a higher value for a guy who can carry the puck out of/into zones well, but it's a big part of the game. For every weak defensive play Gilmour makes, he makes another play that you very rarely see out of Pionk. Offensively, he's easily the worst of the three. If he is going to make a scoring impact at the NHL level, it will be by using his speed to create odd man opportunities as the late man in, and he never did that nearly enough last year.

tl;dr version
Offense - ADA > Pionk >> Gilmour
Defense - Pionk = Gilmour > ADA
Transition - Gilmour >> ADA > Pionk

Just my two cents. I know that I'm in the minority, and that I may be switching camps very early next season, but that's my assessment right now. I couldn't care less about being right, I just hope one of these guys becomes an impactful top4 D for us.

i think this is all very fair. as far as pionk is concerned i definitely carry a bias, but i just see that kid as a gamer. he just has a presence about him where he looks calm in every situation and never forces a puck. i do agree he/staal would get pinned and that is worst case scenario for him - he's never going to be a guy thats physical enough to work the netfront and he gets a little scrambly trying to do too much in those situations. maybe a new partner/system will help, but i factor him as a staple.

ADA i do want to say i haven't given up all hope on, i was just underwhelmed by the skillset/hockey sense we saw last year. new coach/system could be very beneficial for him, because there were times he really did flash signs of being a real difference maker. he does still have great edges/balance, especially in the o zone and has shown some hands / patience to create plays. maybe this jump starts him, but if i'm jg i'm not putting much probability on that.

gilmour certainly has some intrigue just because of his skating alone. you are spot on in that he does look to use that skating to push breakouts and was effective at it. i don't think there's any debate he's a disaster in the d zone at the moment, but you can live/work with that if there's enough reward. you are onto something though in that he has some qualities that are serviceable such as using his stick to free a puck in board battles and then winning a race, but he also looks completely and totally lost when hemmed in and he seems to have that happen w/ way too much frequency. same as both of the above, new coach / system could help or hurt here. confidence will play a big part, both in him from the staff and him in himself based on what he perceives from them. what really makes him a tough call for me is how many great chances he created, especially for himself, that he missed horrifically. in my experience, thats usually not something that corrects itself - you either finish or dont. that said, confidence is a funny thing, and if he gets a chance and has some success early things could really blossom for him. he's another guy i'm not writing off, but i think the organizational perspective should be to not assume him progressing to anything more than a nhl/ahl tweener. if he plays himself beyond that and into a legit career nhl offensive d, fantastic. if he doesn't, we should have already been prepared.

also your tl;dr i 1000% agree w/ and i would apply here for anyone that doesn't want to read my ramblings

 

[Mac n Gs]

Pumped for the game tonight. I was bummed that I missed Regina-Hamilton, but the traffic getting back to NY was brutal on Friday.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Pumped for the game tonight. I was bummed that I missed Regina-Hamilton, but the traffic getting back to NY was brutal on Friday.

Memorial Cup final is playing tonight at 8 on the NHL network. I think the actual game starts at 7 if there's a stream somewhere

 

[Harbour Dog]

Memorial Cup final is playing tonight at 8 on the NHL network. I think the actual game starts at 7 if there's a stream somewhere

Looks like I'll be able to start watching it on Sportsnet without the delay.

I'm so happy about that, that I nearly added an emoticon to that first sentence.

Ecstatic.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Looks like I'll be able to start watching it on Sportsnet without the delay.

I'm so happy about that, that I nearly added an emoticon to that first sentence.

Ecstatic.

I wish I could but I guess I'll be getting an annotated version. I feel like I'm lucky enough to get the NHL network but instead of the final game of a pretty big tournament, they have Stanley Cup media day coverage from 5-8

 

[Harbour Dog]

I wish I could but I guess I'll be getting an annotated version. I feel like I'm lucky enough to get the NHL network but instead of the final game of a pretty big tournament, they have Stanley Cup media day coverage from 5-8

Yeah, that's unfortunate. I can understand why they would give precedence to the media day coverage, but I can't help but wonder which event would get more viewership. Especially considering it will be the tail end of the interviews.

 

[Harbour Dog]

The commentators are talking up Dobson in the pre-game. I feel like calling in just to shush them.

A month ago, I thought there was a very good chance that he'd be available for us at 9. It really doesn't seem that way anymore.

 

[Harbour Dog]

Solid first period for Hajek. The teams are playing a much tighter checking game than any of the others I have seen from this tourney, so opportunities to stand out aren't as available.

Made a couple nice plays on D using his feet, and pushed ahead on offense a couple times. Twice, he made a less-than-optimal clearing attempt off the glass; one leading to a shot attempt against. But on the whole, a solid period.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Solid first period for Hajek. The teams are playing a much tighter checking game than any of the others I have seen from this tourney, so opportunities to stand out aren't as available.

Made a couple nice plays on D using his feet, and pushed ahead on offense a couple times. Twice, he made a less-than-optimal clearing attempt off the glass; one leading to a shot attempt against. But on the whole, a solid period.

NHL network is just picking up the game in the middle of it, so thanks for this

 

[Harbour Dog]

Hajek's transition plays from D to offense have left a bit to be desired this game. By all accounts that's a strength of his though; probably just a below average couple of periods, or maybe nerves finding their way in.

 

[Harbour Dog]

That was a loooooooong shift. That entire line owes Paddock a steak dinner after that one.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Yeah, the Titan are reeeeally taking it to the Pats. Paddock’s playing really well

 

[Irishguy42]

Pretty good chance for Hajek to tie it up.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Regina really loves crazy faceoff plays

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Also Hajek is really good at making plays along the blue line

 

[Edge]

The commentators are talking up Dobson in the pre-game. I feel like calling in just to shush them.

A month ago, I thought there was a very good chance that he'd be available for us at 9. It really doesn't seem that way anymore.

In fairness, we’ve said that about several kids now, depending on if they were playing and the hype train was in full swing.

We’ve said it for everyone from Boqvist to Hughes to Bochard to Wahlstrom at some point.

At least one of them will be there at 9.

 

[Irishguy42]

In fairness, we’ve said that about several kids now, depending on if they were playing and the hype train was in full swing.

We’ve said it for everyone from Boqvist to Hughes to Bochard to Wahlstrom at some point.

At least one of them will be there at 9.

And this is why there is zero reason to worry about the draft.

 

[Fitzy]

Everyone's so worried about a true #1 D
I'll take 2 #2s, 2 #3s, and 2 #4s over 1 #1, 1 #2, 2 #4s and 2 Stahl's haha

Everyone is forgetting skjei
He had a sophomore slump
Last year at this time he was the next Brian Leetch
I say he bounces back and remains our #1 as long as he's paired with our best defensive dman which will have to come from free agency, a trade or the draft

It has been 13 years since Staal joined this organization. My god. Is it autocorrect?

 

[bl02]

with 16 min left Hajek just made an amazing houdini escape from behind his own against two Titan players to skate puck out.

 

[Irishguy42]

Count me in as being very excited to see Hajek in preseason.