Projects prevalent in New York Rangers Top 20 prospects

[NickyFotiu]

Yeah, I can't explain how or why AV did what he did with Dylan. I will say that you guys aren't alone in that...Dan Bylsma with Simon Despres is another recent example that came to mind. Coaches go with veteran players because sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't...that's old school thinking maybe, but that's still the deal almost across the board.

Here's the only silver lining I can offer...McIlrath is going to graduate on merit next season...

Thanks for your report. While some Ranger fans may disagree with some rankings you will find we are a pretty good group on this board that will appreciate your work.

 

[eco's bones]

Hey guys,

Let me at least show myself here, as I'll be the new New York (not a Futurama reference) writer here until I'm ousted by you guys by popular vote . Obviously, I have some big shoes to fill with Leslie moving on and I hope I can bring just some of the insight that she brought all this time. I had been covering the Dallas Stars here for the last eight or so years and when I saw the Rangers become available I jumped at the opportunity.

I already see lots of great feedback here which I'm happy to see.

Let me just take you through the process briefly (maybe not so briefly) for me...

First, I put eyes on everyone. If for some reason I can't because they play in Kazakhstan Jrs U18 league or something, I find people that have seen them and I pick their brain or ask for their video on him. So, that created the delay between me taking the beat and getting this top 20 posted. I watched film on everyone, hours on some. I needed to get familiar with them and I needed to lay the foundation in the flagship article going forward. Pretty much every second paragraph on these guys is a brief description of where their game is right now, so that there's no misinterpretation that I "stat grabbed" and moved guys accordingly.

My inexact science on this: I rank on the premise of, what I refer to as, "likely potential" - I rarely will go by "highest ceiling", which does happen on this site. Meaning, that, in theory, Player X could be more than just top six forward in the AHL, but I just don't see it happening in a likely course of events. I factor proximity to some degree, but really "likely potential" on a list of prospects makes the most sense to me. Some may disagree, and that's well within the realm of reality as well...

So the biggest indictment here is Dylan McIlrath. Candidly, I struggle with these guys that should have been NHL regulars already. I press internally to have guys graduated before they even hit the prescribed graduation hurdles that HF puts out. I did it in Dallas and I hope to make the same pushes here when I can. McIlrath is an NHLer, he is not a prospect. You guys all know what he brings because you watch the Rangers play. Players that play for the Rangers aren't prospects for me. Obviously, Alain Vigneault disagrees and therefore, I have to put him on the list.

Because of how I graded him, I think he's only going to be a third pairing talent in this league. That is how I think it shakes out. I just don't know about the puck skills and the lateral mobility to be a regular, true, second pairing guy in this league. And it's not because I think he's a bust, I even mentioned in the article (unless it was edited out) that let's ignore the hoopla and the controversy and stop comparing him to Cam Fowler and all that...and let's look at the season he had. I think he was just fine. But I also think he is just...fine. He doesn't strike me as exemplary. So, mathematically, I'm kind of stuck because I graded other players to have better "likely potential" than McIlrath. But the problem I run into is, if I'm required to put "sure things" first and everything else second...McIlrath becomes #1 or so. He's the only sure-fire NHLer really on the list. And even if I soften that logic leap a little, then he's not really a top 5 prospect for me. I do think Graves has higher upside and it's a list of prospects ranked on upside. Whether he makes the NHL or not is a matter for the courts, but my first order of sorting is "likely potential" and then I mess around a little bit from there...

So, that's my best explanation of why an NHL regular is below an undrafted free agent signing in Malte Stromwall. It would have been easier to go in there and slaughter McIlrath for having two points or whatever...but I think I gave him a pretty fair shake (maybe not?)...could he have gone higher? Definitely. Could he be top-5? Definitely. It just didn't fit in my personal metric for ranking. You're not wrong for sliding McIlrath to 8, or 6, or 3 or whatever. I can't place regular NHLers, I don't know how to do it. Nine years here and I can't figure it out still. So, for that I apologize.

For those that are into this kind of thing...#21 was Ryan Mantha. But honestly, this list trails off considerably towards the end. A lot of guys at the bottom are close. Nanne gets a nod for having the most skill out of anyone below Jensen I guess. Maybe exception to Bernhardt who can really shoot...

I'll be around, I'm happy to chat. Happy to vaguely justify my decisions. And just in general, happy to talk about hockey in general. I am an ice hockey coach at the collegiate level which sometimes leaks into my evaluations of players, hopefully not for the worst. Really looking forward to covering one of the league's premier teams and to interacting with a great community of fans here.

For the sake of argument my rankings would go something like this and I'm running it out to 28.

1. Pavel Buchnevich
2. Brady Skjei
3. Igor Shesterkin/Shestyorkin
4. Dylan McIlrath
5. Ryan Graves
6. Ryan Gropp--IMO he had a so-so season. I expected a little more.
7. Robin Kovacs--I see some Marchand/Gallagher kind of potential. Very fast--disruptive forechecker with really nice hands.
8. Brandon Halverson--so so season for a much weaker team. Very strong playoffs kind of redeemed it.
9. Marek Hrivik--not great but very realizable upside to be a 4th line winger who can fill in at center in a pinch. Never been a great fan but he did play well for the Rangers when he got a shot last year.
10. Nicklas Jensen--streaky at the AHL level. Another guy with a so so season.
11. Adam Tambellini--needs work on his overall game. Decent rookie AHL season but a good two years away and maybe longer.
12. Cristoval Nieves--another guy I've never been jazzed about. Good size--great skater oozing offensive potential but has never put it together. An unexpectedly good finish to last year in Hartford.
13. Sergei Zborovskiy
14. Malte Stromwall
15. Mackenzie Skapski--hip surgery set him back last year. Hoping he'll rebound.
16. Adam Huska--really good year.
17. Steven Fogarty--upside 4th line NHL righty center. Great size--very good defensive forward.
18. Brad Morrison--I liked this pick a lot last year. I think he has potential but he struggled especially in the first half last year.
19. Mat Bodie--undersized and older but he had a very good year in Hartford.
20. Magnus Hellberg--his shot with the Rangers would be if Henrik or Raanta suffered a long term injury. He did have a very good year in Hartford last year and will probably be the No. 1 there next year though the Rangers will need to find enough games for Halverson and Skapski.
21. Calle Andersson--had an okay year in Hartford.
22. Adam Chapie
23. Chris McCarthy
24. Ryan Mantha--might be a couple slots higher--question is whether the Rangers will sign him.
25. Tommy Hughes
26. Daniel Bernhardt--not a good year really. Did end up on a very talented and deep London-OHL team scrapping for ice time.
27. Keegan Iverson--offense plateaued after his draft year. Good skater--big body--plays physical--like Mantha he's unsigned and on the cusp of becoming a free agent.
28. Tyler Nanne--small and undersized--there's health issues--somewhat underwhelming year in the USHL a couple years ago before missing last season altogether.

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

That Skjei report sure sounds frighteningly similar to John Moore

Maybe, but Skjei in the layoffs and worlds has already acquitted himself better than J Moore could do now, forget about relative ages. I would settle to split he difference between MCD and JMoore for Skjeis ceiling although he projects more towards MCD.

 

[FLYLine27*]

For the sake of argument my rankings would go something like this and I'm running it out to 28.

1. Pavel Buchnevich
2. Brady Skjei
3. Igor Shesterkin/Shestyorkin
4. Dylan McIlrath
5. Ryan Graves
6. Ryan Gropp--IMO he had a so-so season. I expected a little more.
7. Robin Kovacs--I see some Marchand/Gallagher kind of potential. Very fast--disruptive forechecker with really nice hands.
8. Brandon Halverson--so so season for a much weaker team. Very strong playoffs kind of redeemed it.
9. Marek Hrivik--not great but very realizable upside to be a 4th line winger who can fill in at center in a pinch. Never been a great fan but he did play well for the Rangers when he got a shot last year.
10. Nicklas Jensen--streaky at the AHL level. Another guy with a so so season.
11. Adam Tambellini--needs work on his overall game. Decent rookie AHL season but a good two years away and maybe longer.
12. Cristoval Nieves--another guy I've never been jazzed about. Good size--great skater oozing offensive potential but has never put it together. An unexpectedly good finish to last year in Hartford.
13. Sergei Zborovskiy
14. Malte Stromwall
15. Mackenzie Skapski--hip surgery set him back last year. Hoping he'll rebound.
16. Adam Huska--really good year.
17. Steven Fogarty--upside 4th line NHL righty center. Great size--very good defensive forward.
18. Brad Morrison--I liked this pick a lot last year. I think he has potential but he struggled especially in the first half last year.
19. Mat Bodie--undersized and older but he had a very good year in Hartford.
20. Magnus Hellberg--his shot with the Rangers would be if Henrik or Raanta suffered a long term injury. He did have a very good year in Hartford last year and will probably be the No. 1 there next year though the Rangers will need to find enough games for Halverson and Skapski.
21. Calle Andersson--had an okay year in Hartford.
22. Adam Chapie
23. Chris McCarthy
24. Ryan Mantha--might be a couple slots higher--question is whether the Rangers will sign him.
25. Tommy Hughes
26. Daniel Bernhardt--not a good year really. Did end up on a very talented and deep London-OHL team scrapping for ice time.
27. Keegan Iverson--offense plateaued after his draft year. Good skater--big body--plays physical--like Mantha he's unsigned and on the cusp of becoming a free agent.
28. Tyler Nanne--small and undersized--there's health issues--somewhat underwhelming year in the USHL a couple years ago before missing last season altogether.

He's almost 25....he's not considered a prospect anymore. Additionally, I didn't see anything that special about him in those games that would warrant him getting a permanent position on the team unless we are just going to throw him on the team to get Glass the hell off of it. But would much rather have Jensen in that spot, younger player with higher upside.

 

[Matz03]

With the right partner, like a Yandle, I have no problem with McIlrath playing top 4 minutes. But if he's paired with a Staal, or someone playing their offside, then that pairing will have trouble. I thought he was getting better and better, more confidant, good stretch passes too. He needs to play, familiarize himself with nhl competition. You have to face the star players and learn to to defend them. The Rangers also have no righty options and a real need for a guy like him on the backend. If he's only playing bottom six, then that means the top 4 must be solid already, which is obviously not the current case.

Skjei has the physical tools and skating but defensively, to me at least, Mcilrath is much further along. His awareness and coverage in the D end needs lots of work. Someone like Klein or a healthy Girardi might be ideal partners. Once he gets the puck he can skate it out no problem, but he needs to work on coverage in his end. He also needs to work on passing, avoid those turnovers we've seen.

Jensesn should get some 3rd and 4th line reps this season and mainly stay up with the big club. Hrivik is another one that should get plenty of 4th line minutes.

The current roster is a bit stale and fresh linemates, especially guys trying to prove they belong tend to add plenty of energy to lift the other guys play. In a transition year it important to give guys experience, give others a taste from Hartford.

 

[wafflepadsave]

Yeah, I can't explain how or why AV did what he did with Dylan. I will say that you guys aren't alone in that...Dan Bylsma with Simon Despres is another recent example that came to mind. Coaches go with veteran players because sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't...that's old school thinking maybe, but that's still the deal almost across the board.

Here's the only silver lining I can offer...McIlrath is going to graduate on merit next season...

Thank you for responding and giving us your perspective on the prospects. What you think of Honka and other Dallas prospects that some of us are clamoring for?

 

[Beacon]

Morrison, Kovacs, even Tambellini and Gropp should be nowhere near McIlrath, and are not even as good as guys like Nieves and Jensen. I would bet that of those 4 guys, no more than 1 becomes a regular NHLer.

 

[Infinitum Vitae*]

Morrison, Kovacs, even Tambellini and Gropp should be nowhere near McIlrath, and are not even as good as guys like Nieves and Jensen. I would bet that of those 4 guys, no more than 1 becomes a regular NHLer.

Gropp and Kovacs WILL be top6 forwards for the Rangers down the road. Quote me on it

 

[Beacon]

our prospect pool makes me really sad...im not convinced anyone outside of Skjei, McIlrath, and Buchnevich will ever actually play in the NHL....Graves maybe...

ugh.

I think there's a very good chance Graves plays in the NHL. I would've said the same thing about Shesterkin, but goalies go bust the most, so that's the only thing holding me back.

The rest are a crapshoot: between Rambo, Gropp, Nieves, Foggy, Morrison, Jensen, and Kovacs, if we get two solid bottom-6 regulars, I'll be happy. Likewise, I'll be glad if one of Zborovskiy, Calle or Hughes becomes a #6D.

Also, how are Hrivik and Hughes not on the list, but Nanne is? Jeez.

Gropp and Kovacs WILL be top6 forwards for the Rangers down the road. Quote me on it

Neither will come close to top-6. Overrating what point per game scoring in low-end leagues is the reason we see this crap on here every year, and when every time it's proven false, we move on to similar prospects next year and just forget the predictions made about Nejezchleb and Tambellini just a year ago.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I really don't think the McIlrath ranking is bad, if you are judging on "likely potential." The only others I'd have him above are Stromwall and Tambellini. The rest are probably likely to be better players in the NHL.

Initially, I thought McIlrath was pretty good early on last season, but his play trailed off towards the end, even when he did play. He's 23 years old. He needs to be playing better, even if he did deserves more minutes than he got. His skating and puck moving isn't that bad. Its good enough to play in the NHL, but 4 points in 34 games shows a complete lack of offensive upside, and it wasn't just the lack of minutes. He was third to last in points per 60 after Paille and Skjei, and we know Skjei has better offensive upside, 124 minutes will skew data for you. If McIlrath is not more than a 10-15 point player, he'll need to be elite defensively to be a top 4 defenseman. I think there's a chance he's a #4, but a #5 defenseman might be a more accurate projection.

 

[NickyFotiu]

I really don't think the McIlrath ranking is bad, if you are judging on "likely potential." The only others I'd have him above are Stromwall and Tambellini. The rest are probably likely to be better players in the NHL.

Initially, I thought McIlrath was pretty good early on last season, but his play trailed off towards the end, even when he did play. He's 23 years old. He needs to be playing better, even if he did deserves more minutes than he got. His skating and puck moving isn't that bad. Its good enough to play in the NHL, but 4 points in 34 games shows a complete lack of offensive upside, and it wasn't just the lack of minutes. He was third to last in points per 60 after Paille and Skjei, and we know Skjei has better offensive upside, 124 minutes will skew data for you. If McIlrath is not more than a 10-15 point player, he'll need to be elite defensively to be a top 4 defenseman. I think there's a chance he's a #4, but a #5 defenseman might be a more accurate projection.

I think Dylan could surprise some folks and score 7-10 goals in a season if he plays regularly. If you look at last season he scored more goals per minute than Yandle, Girardi, and Marc Staal.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Hrivik is a '91 birthday, I did not include him or Hellberg or Lindblad.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

McIlrath will probably be a #4/5D with limited offensive upside, puck skills and skating, but at least he'll probably be an NHL player. Skjei should be a #2/3 defensive defenseman. If he really develops his offensive game and puck skills, maybe there's a chance he becomes a #1, but its really unlikely. Tambellini, Gropp, Kovacs, Stromwall, Morrison all have a chance to be middle 6 forwards. Nieves, Fogarty, Jensen all have a chance to be bottom 6 forwards. If we get 2 middle 6 forwards and 1 or 2 bottom 6 forwards out of that group of players, I think we've done well. Zborovskiy seems to have limited NHL upside, but there's probably a good chance with the way he plays that he gets to the NHL as a #4/5 defenseman.

We might not have a good prospect pool, but we have good goalies. Huska's has a lot of upside. He had a really good 1st post-draft season. Now he'll face better competition. He's probably two or three years away from an ELC at the earliest, maybe even four. Halverson has shown good tools, but he's not played as well as he's capable of. Now he'll have a big transition to pro hockey. I think these next two seasons are very important for him. He has big potential, NHL starter potential, but if he doesn't put that together in the next two years, I'm not sure that we can really expect an NHL starter out of him. If he does though, maybe he's the next back up to Hank after Raanta's contract expires. Skapski has shown in the past that he could be a good NHL back up. After his injury, its harder to project him to be an NHL goalie, but its possible. It all depends if he can rebound from his injury. He has shown that level of ability.

I already mentioned Skjei who's already played in the NHL. Other than him, the only three prospects that I feel safe to project difference maker potential in the NHL are Graves, Shesty and Buch. Graves has a lot of tools, and he's progressed a lot in recent seasons, which makes me think there's a chance he hits his ceiling. He's really big, he has a great shot, he skates well for a big man and he has good puck skills for a big man. What he needs to improve on is his physicality on the defensive end and his overall defense. He's not yet ready to play in the NHL, but if he can correct those two areas of his game, he could be a really interesting player. I believe he has potential to be about Sheldon Souray level if he really hits his ceiling. He'll probably end up around Jason Garrison level, which is still really good. I actually think there's a good chance Graves could be better than Skjei, and thats not really a slight on Skjei.

Shesty is our best goalie prospect, and I think he deserves his spot as our second best prospect. He was about as good as you could be in the VHL this season, and has done well in the KHL and international competitions. He figures to probably split starters minutes this upcoming season with SKA, but Koskinen had a good WC, and there's been talk he could want to head back to the NHL and there's interest in him. If that happens, Shesty could inherit the starting spot this season. If not, and he's just strictly a back up, I'd bring him over to NA after the season when his contract is up. If he gets the starting spot though, I'd probably let him develop with SKA for a few more seasons until he's ready to play in the NHL.

Buch is our best prospect, and I think he's a top 5 prospect who's been drafted and is not yet in the NHL. He has star upside if he reaches his ceiling, and should be no worse than a good second line forward. I think a good 1st line forward is a fair projection.

I think the system is bottom 10 in the league, maybe even bottom 5. There are a few impact players in the system, but overall its lacking in impact players, especially right hand defenseman and forwards.

Think this sums up how I feel about our system.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

Hey guys,

Let me at least show myself here, as I'll be the new New York (not a Futurama reference) writer here until I'm ousted by you guys by popular vote . Obviously, I have some big shoes to fill with Leslie moving on and I hope I can bring just some of the insight that she brought all this time. I had been covering the Dallas Stars here for the last eight or so years and when I saw the Rangers become available I jumped at the opportunity.

I already see lots of great feedback here which I'm happy to see.

Let me just take you through the process briefly (maybe not so briefly) for me...

First, I put eyes on everyone. If for some reason I can't because they play in Kazakhstan Jrs U18 league or something, I find people that have seen them and I pick their brain or ask for their video on him. So, that created the delay between me taking the beat and getting this top 20 posted. I watched film on everyone, hours on some. I needed to get familiar with them and I needed to lay the foundation in the flagship article going forward. Pretty much every second paragraph on these guys is a brief description of where their game is right now, so that there's no misinterpretation that I "stat grabbed" and moved guys accordingly.

My inexact science on this: I rank on the premise of, what I refer to as, "likely potential" - I rarely will go by "highest ceiling", which does happen on this site. Meaning, that, in theory, Player X could be more than just top six forward in the AHL, but I just don't see it happening in a likely course of events. I factor proximity to some degree, but really "likely potential" on a list of prospects makes the most sense to me. Some may disagree, and that's well within the realm of reality as well...

So the biggest indictment here is Dylan McIlrath. Candidly, I struggle with these guys that should have been NHL regulars already. I press internally to have guys graduated before they even hit the prescribed graduation hurdles that HF puts out. I did it in Dallas and I hope to make the same pushes here when I can. McIlrath is an NHLer, he is not a prospect. You guys all know what he brings because you watch the Rangers play. Players that play for the Rangers aren't prospects for me. Obviously, Alain Vigneault disagrees and therefore, I have to put him on the list.

Because of how I graded him, I think he's only going to be a third pairing talent in this league. That is how I think it shakes out. I just don't know about the puck skills and the lateral mobility to be a regular, true, second pairing guy in this league. And it's not because I think he's a bust, I even mentioned in the article (unless it was edited out) that let's ignore the hoopla and the controversy and stop comparing him to Cam Fowler and all that...and let's look at the season he had. I think he was just fine. But I also think he is just...fine. He doesn't strike me as exemplary. So, mathematically, I'm kind of stuck because I graded other players to have better "likely potential" than McIlrath. But the problem I run into is, if I'm required to put "sure things" first and everything else second...McIlrath becomes #1 or so. He's the only sure-fire NHLer really on the list. And even if I soften that logic leap a little, then he's not really a top 5 prospect for me. I do think Graves has higher upside and it's a list of prospects ranked on upside. Whether he makes the NHL or not is a matter for the courts, but my first order of sorting is "likely potential" and then I mess around a little bit from there...

So, that's my best explanation of why an NHL regular is below an undrafted free agent signing in Malte Stromwall. It would have been easier to go in there and slaughter McIlrath for having two points or whatever...but I think I gave him a pretty fair shake (maybe not?)...could he have gone higher? Definitely. Could he be top-5? Definitely. It just didn't fit in my personal metric for ranking. You're not wrong for sliding McIlrath to 8, or 6, or 3 or whatever. I can't place regular NHLers, I don't know how to do it. Nine years here and I can't figure it out still. So, for that I apologize.

For those that are into this kind of thing...#21 was Ryan Mantha. But honestly, this list trails off considerably towards the end. A lot of guys at the bottom are close. Nanne gets a nod for having the most skill out of anyone below Jensen I guess. Maybe exception to Bernhardt who can really shoot...

I'll be around, I'm happy to chat. Happy to vaguely justify my decisions. And just in general, happy to talk about hockey in general. I am an ice hockey coach at the collegiate level which sometimes leaks into my evaluations of players, hopefully not for the worst. Really looking forward to covering one of the league's premier teams and to interacting with a great community of fans here.

Glad to have you here!

I personally love to learn more about prospects, but sadly I can't go to live games to watch and such, so I usually have limited resources when it comes to learning styles of play, and specific strengths and weaknesses within a prospect. In a nutshell, i'm relegated to highlights and stat watching.

Though I am usually active with learning more about prospects, whether my team's prospects, or the ones in the draft, or even the prospects in the other NHL team's systems.

Though of course I do mainly focus on Rangers prospects, obviously.

Glad to have you here though, and I think I, as can many others, learn a lot about prospects from you!

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

McIlrath at this point is probably a 5/6 D. If he becomes a 4, great even better. I'll be happy with him becoming a third pairing guy when it's all said and done.

Morrison, Kovacs, even Tambellini and Gropp should be nowhere near McIlrath, and are not even as good as guys like Nieves and Jensen. I would bet that of those 4 guys, no more than 1 becomes a regular NHLer.

Tambellini maybe, but Gropp, Kovacs and even Morrison are easily better than Nieves. Nieves is a fourth liner and nothing more at this point. I'd take any of those guys over Nieves any day and not think twice.

 

[Beacon]

Tambellini maybe, but Gropp, Kovacs and even Morrison are easily better than Nieves. Nieves is a fourth liner and nothing more at this point. I'd take any of those guys over Nieves any day and not think twice.

That's a bias for low level leagues most people here show. Rambo had a better junior career than Gropp or Morrison. He had the exact rookie season I expected: decent in goals, garbage at all else. But at lesdr he was top 6 in the AHL. Morrison looks like a career ECHL player, not even a star there. If Gropp moves to the pros this year, no way he's top 6 as a rookie. He may be a role player in the AHL this season, but I doubt even that. He's likely going to be an overager in the juniors first.

 

[cwede]

.... Gropp, Kovacs and even Morrison are easily better than Nieves. Nieves is a fourth liner and nothing more at this point.....

i just have no idea how such statements comparing 4 players all with virtually no pro experience can be made with such certainty

Maybe Nieves disappointed some folks because he didn't have wow stat numbers at Mich, but he played top 6 minutes for 4 years for a program that historically produces pro, and respected talent evaluators like his game, especially his passing. If his strengths are really the skill game, then he is not likely destined to be a 4th liner

we don't know how Gropp, Kovacs, Fogarty, Morrison, Nieves, Stromwall will turn out as pro's till they have a season or 2 under their belt

i think you can see more promise in some players (which at this point is just a hunch anyway) without feeling you have to condemn the others
if you're a fan of the team, you hope they all succeed

but i bet is sure his fun knocking down kids in their early 20's just starting out, because what all of us were at 19 or 20 was such a perfect indicator of how we'd turn out

++++++++++++++++++++
btw per the numbers, St Croix seemed a similar but more skilled player than Morrison, based on the 2 years pre-draft, then the post draft year
you just don't know that early how it will turn out. It could be argued Morrison is just another St.Croix, McColgan, Thomas or Kristo

btw, not knocking Morrsion, i believe Morrison will be better, reports cite his compete and play in traffic,
but we are working with very incomplete information, and projecting such early-stage unfinished products

Brad Morrison Height 6.00 -- Weight 170
Center -- shoots L Born Jan 4 1997
Drafted by New York Rangers - round 4 #113 overall 2015 NHL Entry Draft
2013-14 Prince George Cougars WHL 55 12 9 21 12
2014-15 Prince George Cougars WHL 67 23 27 50 30
2015-16 Prince George Cougars WHL 72 28 34 62 35

Michael St. Croix Center -- shoots R Height 5.11 -- Weight 181
Born Apr 10 1993 -- Winnipeg, MAN
Drafted by New York Rangers - round 4 #106 overall 2011 NHL Entry Draft
2009-10 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 66 18 28 46 30
2010-11 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 68 27 48 75 48
2011-12 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 72 45 60 105 49

 

[nyr2k2]

Tambellini maybe, but Gropp, Kovacs and even Morrison are easily better than Nieves. Nieves is a fourth liner and nothing more at this point. I'd take any of those guys over Nieves any day and not think twice.

Nieves has more pure skill, IMO, than anyone in our system outside of Buchnevich. Morrison and Gropp (particularly the former) both had decent seasons, but hardly anything great. I don't know what makes them "easily" better than Nieves, a guy with equal or greater skill who is already closer to the NHL.

I think people are too down on Nieves. I think he'll really open some eyes next season.

 

[Irishguy42]

I guess we'll find out how Nieves/Gropp/etc will all do next season in Hartford (assuming Gropp doesn't stay with TBirds as over-ager).

Will be a fun season for the Pack at the very least, I think. Might even make a run.

 

[nyr2k2]

The Pack will be garbage again unless they find some vets that actually want to play down there.

 

[Beacon]

Brad Morrison Height 6.00 -- Weight 170
Center -- shoots L Born Jan 4 1997
Drafted by New York Rangers - round 4 #113 overall 2015 NHL Entry Draft
2013-14 Prince George Cougars WHL 55 12 9 21 12
2014-15 Prince George Cougars WHL 67 23 27 50 30
2015-16 Prince George Cougars WHL 72 28 34 62 35

Michael St. Croix Center -- shoots R Height 5.11 -- Weight 181
Born Apr 10 1993 -- Winnipeg, MAN
Drafted by New York Rangers - round 4 #106 overall 2011 NHL Entry Draft
2009-10 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 66 18 28 46 30
2010-11 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 68 27 48 75 48
2011-12 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 72 45 60 105 49

Playing a similar style of hockey in the same league at the same age (Morrison is actually 3 months older), St. Croix had .6 more points per game. That's a massive gap. That's a greater gap than the gap in scoring between Dubinsky, who became an NHL second liner, and Sam Noreau, who can't keep up as an ECHL goon defensive defenseman despite his insane fighting skills. Oh and St. Croix is actually better built than Morrison.

 

[BBKers]

For me

1. Pavel Buchnevich
2. Igor Shesterkin/Shestyorkin
3. Brady Skjei
4. Ryan Gropp
5. Dylan McIlrath
6. Ryan Graves
7. Robin Kovacs
8. Marek Hrivik
9. Nicklas Jensen
10. Adam Tambellini - include in trade to Edmonton?
11. Malte Stromwall
12. Cristoval Nieves
13. Steven Fogarty
14. Brandon Halverson - trade?
15. Mackenzie Skapski
16. Adam Huska
17. Magnus Hellberg
18. Brad Morrison
19. Sergei Zborovskiy - trade rights?
20. Calle Andersson
21. Mat Bodie
22. Ryan Mantha
23. Keegan Iverson - trade rights?
24. Tommy Hughes
25. Adam Chapie - AhL
26. Chris McCarthy - bust
27. Daniel Bernhardt - Bust
28. Tyler Nanne

 

[eco's bones]

Not sure how Nieves is going to turn out. I don't see him as 4th line material. He's built and plays somewhat similar to Petr Nedved IMO--he's a tall rangy guy--a terrific skater who is very nifty with the puck whether stick handling or passing. He seems to have a problem finishing.

His rookie season at Michigan U.--he was 4th on the team in scoring with 8 goals and 21 assists in 40 games. As a by the way three forwards who finished below him in scoring for Michigan U. that year Phil DiGiuseppe, Andrew Copp and Zach Hyman have all gone on to the pros and played in the NHL.

His sophomore year he was 6th on his team in points--his production though regressed to 3 goals and 19 assists. 3 goals in 34 games IMO was not good. My concern over his ability to finish started right here.

His third year--he was 5th on his team in scoring. 7 goals and 28 points in 35 games. As an upperclassman now he's pretty much solidified a job on the team's second line. It's okay but at the same time it's a bit underwhelming and the goal numbers are still low.

Last year as a senior he came his closest to a point a game and actually got to double figures in goals. He was 7th on his team in scoring with 10 goals and 21 assists in 35 games.

To me it was a somewhat disappointing college career. It started off promisingly enough with a good rookie season--regressed in his sophomore year and his numbers plateaued more than less in his junior and senior years. He went from 4th in scoring as a freshman to 6th to 5th to 7th for his Michigan U. team. OTOH he did pretty well in the final couple of weeks of the Hartford Wolfpack season.

He's always been an offensive player. Red Berenson schools his kids well at Michigan U. He certainly should be a prepared player with an idea of his defensive responsibilities but he's a skill guy---not a grind guy. He's not 4th line material. That argument works much much better for Fogarty--it doesn't really work for Nieves. His strong finish in Hartford was encouraging to me. He's obviously on a level above Michael St. Croix. I expect him to be in Hartford next year and we'll see what happens.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Playing a similar style of hockey in the same league at the same age (Morrison is actually 3 months older), St. Croix had .6 more points per game. That's a massive gap. That's a greater gap than the gap in scoring between Dubinsky, who became an NHL second liner, and Sam Noreau, who can't keep up as an ECHL goon defensive defenseman despite his insane fighting skills. Oh and St. Croix is actually better built than Morrison.

I don't mean to interrupt this rampage, but St. Croix and Morrison don't/didn't play a similar style of game. In fact, they share very few similar traits in terms of game play.

 

[Matz03]

Playing a similar style of hockey in the same league at the same age (Morrison is actually 3 months older), St. Croix had .6 more points per game. That's a massive gap. That's a greater gap than the gap in scoring between Dubinsky, who became an NHL second liner, and Sam Noreau, who can't keep up as an ECHL goon defensive defenseman despite his insane fighting skills. Oh and St. Croix is actually better built than Morrison.

The only argument against the St.Croix comparison is that their styles are not at all similar. That's my glimmer of hope. No doubt Morrison's road being a successful pro's is a difficult one.

Looks like someone beat me to it.