Top Shelf Prospects: Rangers Edition
- Thread starter LastWordArmy
- Start date
AIexisLafreniereNYR
Registered Drug User
Roo Returns
Skjeikspeare No More
Interesting but I think the top 10 are:
1. Vesey
2. Skjei
3. Buchnevich
4. Graves
5. Shestyorkin
6. Kovacs
7. Gropp
8. Halverson
9. Stromwell
10. Nieves
Day is not top ten until he has a "comeback season"
Top four are pretty obvious but I think Shesty and Kovacs have more potential to be productive NHLers than Gropp and Halverson. Nieves and Stromwell both have good skillets but don't know how they top out.
1. Vesey
2. Skjei
3. Buchnevich
4. Graves
5. Shestyorkin
6. Kovacs
7. Gropp
8. Halverson
9. Stromwell
10. Nieves
Day is not top ten until he has a "comeback season"
Top four are pretty obvious but I think Shesty and Kovacs have more potential to be productive NHLers than Gropp and Halverson. Nieves and Stromwell both have good skillets but don't know how they top out.
Matz03
Registered User
It's interesting seeing fans dismiss Halverson so much, the kid is just turning pro and will get pro coaching, has all of the tools to be a franchise goalie. He can spend 3 solid years in the minors ripening up and will just be 23 yo then. 6'4", plays the puck really well, has WJC experience. To me he's right up there with Shestyorkin, flip the coin who's 1-2 for goalie prospects.
BBKers
Registered User
1. Buchnevich
2. Vesey
3. Skjei
4. Shestyorkin
5. Graves
6. Gropp
7. Kovacs
8. Day
9. Fogarty
10. Reunanen
2. Vesey
3. Skjei
4. Shestyorkin
5. Graves
6. Gropp
7. Kovacs
8. Day
9. Fogarty
10. Reunanen
Revel
Dark Sky Enthusiast
1 Buchnevich
2 Skeij
3 Vesey
4 Graves
5 Hrivik
6 Jensen
7 Gropp
8 Kovacs
9 Stromwall
10 Nieves
Purposely left off goalies. Have't seen Shesty play and only very limited viewings of Halvy.
2 Skeij
3 Vesey
4 Graves
5 Hrivik
6 Jensen
7 Gropp
8 Kovacs
9 Stromwall
10 Nieves
Purposely left off goalies. Have't seen Shesty play and only very limited viewings of Halvy.
IMO, Shestyorkin should be no lower than 4 on this list and perhaps higher. He is a blue chip goalie prospect.
Edge
Kris King's Ghost
1. Buchnevich
2. Skjei
3. Vesey
4. Graves
5. Gropp
6. Kovacs
7. Halverson
8. Shestyorkin
9. Tambellini
10. Fogarty
11. Nieves
12. Day
Buch, Skjei and Vesey have legit shots to come off the list by season's end.
Graves is criminally underrated and should get a look this season.
Gropp is also highly underrated.
Kovacs has a chance to be a fast riser depending on how he adjusts. He always seems to exceed expectations and come along faster than projected.
Halverson and Shestyorkin are fairly interchangeable at this point. Both have a lot of potential to rise, but as a result of their position they are both further off right now.
Tambellini progressed well as the season went along. If he continues that trend he's a dark horse prospect to keep an eye on.
Fogarty and Nieves are both fairly close as well. Depends on how they adjust to the pro game and if they're able to develop/show an offensive games to go along with their defensive capabilities.
Day is here based on talent. While he doesn't have to match his exceptional status to be ranked higher, he does have to at least have a very good season. Until then, I can't justify ranking him higher merely based on his perceived potential.
2. Skjei
3. Vesey
4. Graves
5. Gropp
6. Kovacs
7. Halverson
8. Shestyorkin
9. Tambellini
10. Fogarty
11. Nieves
12. Day
Buch, Skjei and Vesey have legit shots to come off the list by season's end.
Graves is criminally underrated and should get a look this season.
Gropp is also highly underrated.
Kovacs has a chance to be a fast riser depending on how he adjusts. He always seems to exceed expectations and come along faster than projected.
Halverson and Shestyorkin are fairly interchangeable at this point. Both have a lot of potential to rise, but as a result of their position they are both further off right now.
Tambellini progressed well as the season went along. If he continues that trend he's a dark horse prospect to keep an eye on.
Fogarty and Nieves are both fairly close as well. Depends on how they adjust to the pro game and if they're able to develop/show an offensive games to go along with their defensive capabilities.
Day is here based on talent. While he doesn't have to match his exceptional status to be ranked higher, he does have to at least have a very good season. Until then, I can't justify ranking him higher merely based on his perceived potential.
Ghost of jas
Unsatisfied
Edge
Kris King's Ghost
He's got a very good upside, but I wouldn't classify him as blue chip at this point.
Now if he performs at a high level getting into 25 games or so, he'll rise pretty fast.
Revel
Dark Sky Enthusiast
Surprised Hrivik & Jensen aren't getting more love on these lists.
In my mind, Hrivik has already proven that he can play 4th line NHL minutes. He can play both Center & Wing. He could easily be the new Dom Moore, except less selfish. When paired with someone who has a finishing touch (Jensen), Hrivik has proven to be an adequate set-up man as well. Management enjoyed what he did in his 5 games last year and has told him he's close. All in all, he may not be a sexy choice...but we know he can play. Jensen's smooth skating ability and ability to finish shouldn't be overlooked, either. He has Top 9 upside.
In my mind, Hrivik has already proven that he can play 4th line NHL minutes. He can play both Center & Wing. He could easily be the new Dom Moore, except less selfish. When paired with someone who has a finishing touch (Jensen), Hrivik has proven to be an adequate set-up man as well. Management enjoyed what he did in his 5 games last year and has told him he's close. All in all, he may not be a sexy choice...but we know he can play. Jensen's smooth skating ability and ability to finish shouldn't be overlooked, either. He has Top 9 upside.
Shootertooter
Registered User
- Feb 20, 2016
- 3,676
- 1,487
4th liners usually don't get included in top prospect lists unless you have a really bad prospect pool.
Jensen has been struggling to reach his draft potential and has only been inconsistent over his career so far. Maybe he has top 9 potential but he's never shown he can consistently put it together long enough for that. He's not going to get any love until he proves it.
Inferno
Registered User
offdacrossbar
misfit fanboy
"Shestyorkin is will stay in Russia for at least one more season. Its unclear when the Rangers will be able to get him under contract and bring him to North America, but he has the talent to challenge Halverson for the title of goaltender of the future."
russian bias much ? that same old tired song and dance.
so he's lower, in fact way lower than he should be for this reason. gotcha.
also, hes 6'1 and he's a "smaller goaltender" ? i guess compared to halverson he's small ?
oh, btw, he's the same height as some dude named lundqvist. 6 foot one. derp
his combined 2016 save % was .937 and his combined gaa was 1.76. those are stupid good numbers for a 20 year old kid.
ryan graves, sean day, ryan gropp and halverson (with his .907 % and his 3.00 gaa) are rated above igor ? perhaps if it were ryan shestyorkin he would get more love ?
laughable.
russian bias much ? that same old tired song and dance.
so he's lower, in fact way lower than he should be for this reason. gotcha.
also, hes 6'1 and he's a "smaller goaltender" ? i guess compared to halverson he's small ?
oh, btw, he's the same height as some dude named lundqvist. 6 foot one. derp
his combined 2016 save % was .937 and his combined gaa was 1.76. those are stupid good numbers for a 20 year old kid.
ryan graves, sean day, ryan gropp and halverson (with his .907 % and his 3.00 gaa) are rated above igor ? perhaps if it were ryan shestyorkin he would get more love ?
laughable.
offdacrossbar
misfit fanboy
for comparison sake against very good players his u20 combined numbers from last year were
12 games 1.61 gaa .946 %
Our prospect pool is going to look pretty bad after this year. It's when the lack of first round picks will really start to bite us. Wouldn't be surprised if Day has a great year, similar to Duclair, and jumps to #1 with those top 3 guys graduating.
Matz03
Registered User
I think that's fair to say, VHL is lower level from AHL. This why I personally think Halverson isn't far off from Shesty at this point. A year from now we'll have a much better idea.
Krams
Registered User
- Feb 13, 2012
- 8,042
- 1,982
Yeah...could use the infusion of draft picks that a Nash or Zuccarello trade could bring in.
vipernsx
Flatus Expeller
- Sep 4, 2005
- 6,791
- 3
IMO Shesty has the same potential as Day, high but risky. Neither is up there with Vesey, Buch or Skjei yet. Maybe they go 4-5 though I think a prospect poll and Ryan Graves may have different ideas.
This is not Vancouver. Rangers have been consistently producing 1 player per draft and that's on top of signing UFAs like Zuc, Hayes, Vesey, and Talbot.
Edge
Kris King's Ghost
I'm of two mindsets on this.
1. The Rangers keep finding really good value players with what they have. Even now, the list we're going over is pretty good when you factor in Vesey.
2. The organization could definitely benefit from an infusion of additional young talent and hopefully can also find some gems with its first top 30 pick in 5 years next summer.
The Rangers challenge right now is that outside of Buch, I'm not sure they have any other prospects that scream "Star" at this point.
Skjei def. looks like he could be a top 4 for years to come, Ryan Graves has a good shot at the NHL, Vesey and Buch have top 6 upside and the hope is that at least one goalie, and a couple of support guys could emerge from the remaining group in the next of couple of years.
Clearly they can benefit from more high upside talent, but it's the cupboard isn't completely empty either.
Edge
Kris King's Ghost
The potential is there, without a doubt.
Let me put it this way, in the right set of circumstances, and if certain guys graduate off the list, it's not far-fetched to see him sitting in the top three this time next year.
Pavel Buchnevich
Drury and Laviolette Must Go
For the most part, I agree with a lot of what you wrote.
A few things I disagree with.
Other than NA experience, I don't really understand what makes Vesey a better prospect than Buch. Does that really count that much? I've watched both play a lot, more Buch, but I've watched Vesey over 10 times, and my conclusion is that Buch has a higher ceiling, is just as polished with his two way game, and he has more pro hockey experience.
That leads me to another point. I think you are really underrating Buch's defensive game. I thought it improved a lot last season. He was being used on the PK at points last season, mostly I believe with Severstal, but he might've also played some PK with SKA, although I don't remember exactly.
Also, I can't agree with where you've ranked Shestyorkin. I understand that he doesn't play much with SKA, so its hard for people to regard him very highly, but his play at the levels he's played at and his talent is that of a top tier goalie. You can only play at the level where your club will allow you to play. Shestyorkin is good enough to start in the KHL this year, probably last year as well when you consider he was breaking VHL records, but SKA hasn't given him the chance to challenge Koskinen for the starting spot, and SKA is obviously one of the best KHL teams, so his situation is different than a player like Buch who was able to play a lot of KHL hockey so early because his KHL team wasn't one of the best teams. I have Shestyorkin #2 on my own list because I think he's going to be a very good NHL goalie, but I think its not giving him enough credit to have him any lower than 5th.
Also, you forgot Adam Huska. I don't know how much USHL you watch, but some of us have him higher than Halverson as the second best goalie prospect, with most having Shestyorkin #1. I think Huska's a top 10 prospect for the Rangers at this point.
A few things I disagree with.
Other than NA experience, I don't really understand what makes Vesey a better prospect than Buch. Does that really count that much? I've watched both play a lot, more Buch, but I've watched Vesey over 10 times, and my conclusion is that Buch has a higher ceiling, is just as polished with his two way game, and he has more pro hockey experience.
That leads me to another point. I think you are really underrating Buch's defensive game. I thought it improved a lot last season. He was being used on the PK at points last season, mostly I believe with Severstal, but he might've also played some PK with SKA, although I don't remember exactly.
Also, I can't agree with where you've ranked Shestyorkin. I understand that he doesn't play much with SKA, so its hard for people to regard him very highly, but his play at the levels he's played at and his talent is that of a top tier goalie. You can only play at the level where your club will allow you to play. Shestyorkin is good enough to start in the KHL this year, probably last year as well when you consider he was breaking VHL records, but SKA hasn't given him the chance to challenge Koskinen for the starting spot, and SKA is obviously one of the best KHL teams, so his situation is different than a player like Buch who was able to play a lot of KHL hockey so early because his KHL team wasn't one of the best teams. I have Shestyorkin #2 on my own list because I think he's going to be a very good NHL goalie, but I think its not giving him enough credit to have him any lower than 5th.
Also, you forgot Adam Huska. I don't know how much USHL you watch, but some of us have him higher than Halverson as the second best goalie prospect, with most having Shestyorkin #1. I think Huska's a top 10 prospect for the Rangers at this point.
