Rangers Long-Term Depth and Needs
Obviously teams change a lot over the course of 3-4 years, but it's still worth it to look at where the team stands going forward to know what the needs are. This is what I came up with as far as where we are projected to be in 3-4 years. Chances are that none of the prospects drafted in 2015 (particularly without a first rounder) will be ready to play a significant role 3-4 years from now, though we will acquire some people in the coming seasons. But this allows us to see what we need to acquire for long-term success.
CENTERS
Established: Stepan, Brassard
Rookies likely to make it: Miller
Need: A scoring center, a fourth line center
Prospects: Lindberg, Nieves, St. Croix, Fogarty, Tambellini, Iverson
Outlook: We should be in decent shape and we'll definitely be able to produce the bottom-6 center, but we need to draft several more guys like St. Croix. Sure, the vast majority will fail, but the hope is that we can do at center what we did a year ago on the wing and draft Buchnevich and Duclair. Definitely need to focus on drafting offensive centers.
TOP-6 WINGS*
* LWs and RWs are together because many can play both sides.
Established: Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider
Needs: A single top-6 winger
Prospects (those with a top-6 ceiling): Hayes, Haggerty, Buchnevich, Duclair, Kristo
Outlook: Very strong while Nash is here. I'm certain at least one of the prospects makes it into the top-6. Once Nash is gone, it might open a hole if we don't get two prospects making the top-6. The signing of Hayes makes the situation here look more palatable for the post-Nash era.
* I placed Hayes on the wing because AV says Hayes told him he is more comfortable there despite the preseason experiment.
BOTTOM-6 WINGS
Established: Carl Hagelin
Needs: Three bottom-6 wingers, at least 1-2 of whom should have size and snarl
Prospects: Fast, Hrivik, Bourque, Yogan, McCarthy, Nejezchleb, Kantor, Nicholls (plus potentially Hayes, Haggerty, Buchnevich, Duclair, Kristo)
Outlook: Not bad because I'm relatively confident Fast will join Hagelin on the third line, but we lack players or prospects with size and snarl. We will probably add even more speed to the team with our prospects. which is great, but we do lack anyone who can bulldoze over people.
LEFT DEFENSE
Established: McDonagh, Staal, JoMo
Risk: Staal may be lost to free agency
Needs: Potentially we'll need to replace Staal next season
Prospects: Skjei, Allen, Graves, Bodie, Walcott
Outlook: If Staal is resigned, we are beyond loaded here. If he lives, it's a risk, but I think one of these guys makes it. That said, none are likely to be a top-4 defenseman next year, so we'll need to sign a veteran replacement for Staal to bridge us to the youngsters. On the third pairing, either JoMo or Allen will do a more than capable job. The first pair has one of the top blueliners in the game in McDonagh.
RIGHT DEFENSE
Established: Girardi, Klein
Needs: Potentially we'll need to replace Girardi is he slows down. We'll also need to add one quality RD
Prospects: McIlrath, Zamorsky, Hughes, Noreau, Andersson, Mantha, Nanne, Donnay
Outlook: I am confident that one of these 8 defensemen will become a third pair blue liner, but only McIlrath has top-4 potential. Love the size here, but we need to keep loading this side in case McIlrath is not a top-4 defenseman. The Rangers have obviously been doing this by signing UDFAs and drafted kids in mid-rounds as a hedge on McIlrath, and they'd be wise to continue doing this.
GOALTENDERS
Established: Lundqvist, Talbot
Needs: Potentially we'll need to replace Talbot if he leaves as a UFA. In about half a dozen years, we'll need to replace Lundqvist.
Prospects: Skapski, Halverson, Shestyorkin, Missiaen
Outlook: I like Shestyorkin a lot, but statistically the odds of a goalie not drafted in the top 3 rounds becoming a starter are under 3%. Missiaen won't play in the NHL. Halverson is a decent prospect, but also under 10% of becoming a starter based on where he was drafted and the fact that goalies tend to go bust a lot. Skapski has talent, but is still very far from the NHL to the point where he couldn't even get into a preseason game and may start the season in the ECHL. While we think that the 3 goalies we drafted may be the end of the line, the Rangers will probably draft at least 1-2 more goalies in the coming years. If one of them steps up, they will gamble on him, but if that won't happen, look for them to escalate their goalie draft picks when Lundqvist goes into the second half of his 30s.