Rangers Prospect Poll (Summer 2018): #19 Prospect

[The Crypto Guy]

Ranger's Summer 2018 Prospect Poll

1. Filip Chytil (F) (2017 Draft - 1st round) (66%)
2. Igor Shestyorkin (G) (2014 Draft - 4th round) (59%)
3. Vitali Kravtsov (F) (2018 Draft - 1st round) (52%)
4. Lias Andersson (F) (2017 Draft - 1st round)
5. Libor Hajek (D) (2016 Draft - 2nd round) (44%)
6. Brett Howden (F) (2016 Draft - 1st round) (47%)
7. K'Andre Miller (D) (2018 Draft - 1st round) (55%)
8. Neal Pionk (D) (Undrafted) (56%)
9. Nils Lundkvist (D) (2018 Draft - 1st round) (60%)
10. Ryan Lindgren (D) (2016 Draft - 2nd round) (41%)
11. Alexander Georgiev (G) (Undrafted) (50%)
12. Yegor Rykov (D) (2016 Draft - 5th round)
13. Ty Ronning (F) (2016 Draft - 7th round) (28%)
14. Vinni Lettieri (F) (Undrafted) (28%)
15. Sean Day (D) (2016 Draft - 3rd round) (27%)
16. Ville Meskanen (F) (Undrafted) (32%)
17. Jacob Ragnarsson (D) (2018 Draft - 3rd round) (27%)
18. Morgan Barron (F) (2017 Draft - 6th round) (31%)

*Anthony DeAngelo played 6 too many NHL games is no longer eligible*
----------------------------------------------​

Added: Huska

Please post who you want added, eligible prospects that can be added:

Bernhardt, Daniel LW/L
Bigras, Chris D/L
Crawley, Brandon D/L
Fogarty, Steven D/L
Fontaine, Gabriel C/L
Gilmour, John D/L
Gropp, Ryan LW/L
Gross, Nico D/L
Halverson, Brandon G/L
Hughes, Riley RW/R
Keane, Joey D/R
Kjellberg, Simon LW/L
Lakatos, Dominik C/L
Leedahl, Dawson LW/L
Nanne, Tyler D-F/R
Nell, Chris G/L
O'Gara, Rob D/L
Pajuniemi, Lauri RW/R
Pedrie, Vince D/L
Reunanen, Tarmo D/L
Sjalin, Calle D/L
Wall, Tyler G/L

Click to read more...

 

[darko]

Virta

@kovazub94 and I would like to see Gilmour added.

 

[LaffyTaffy]

Lindqvist add Keane

EDIT: We are so deep I am drowning

 

[Unusual Suspect]

Virta, add Fontaine. Am I the only guy out here who thinks he has a crack at beating out Nieves and others for a bottom 6 role this year?

After that, Keane.

 

[kovazub94]

Virta

@kovazub94 and I would like to see Gilmour added.

Voted Virta too!

 

[nyr2k2]

Virta, add Pajuniemi.

 

[pblawr]

Add Pajuniemi

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

Boo. Add Keane.

 

[Lays]

Lindqvist add Keane

EDIT: We are so deep I am drowning

That’s what they said?

Virta though add Keane

 

[Fitzy]

Still a lot of interesting guys left to be added.

Keane possibly would have gone in the top 2 rounds if he were a couple months younger.

Pajuniemi played first team minutes in a good league at a young age.

Fontaine gets talked up a lot by people for his potential to be a big 4th line PK guy.

Bigras has significant NHL experience and put up good points in Hartford.

And then there's Nico Gross who, as I recall, was being talked about as a late first rounder but had a very rough first season in juniors.

 

[nyr2k2]

Virta at 19: 4 points in 33 Liiga games, 6 points in 11 Mestis games (4 in 5 playoff games)
Virta at 20: 26 points in 49 Liiga games, 5 goals in 6 Liiga playoff games
Virta at 21: 40 points in 58 Liiga games, second-most points for a player his age (or younger) behind Vesalainen, #1 pick last year for Winnipeg

Lindqvist at 19: 10 points in 45 games for AIK in SHL
Lindqvist at 20: 16 points in 43 games for AIK in Allsvenskan
Lindqvist at 21: 25 points in 49 games for AIK in Allsvenskan, 6 points in 10 qualification games
Lindqvist at 22: 39 points in 51 games for AIK in Allsvenskan, 9 points in 7 qualification games
Lindqvist at 23: 34 points in 33 games for AIK in SHL

Comparable age 19 seasons, Virta with the clear advantage at age 20 and 21 (both production and league). The question is, does what Lindqvist did during his age 23 season in the SHL make him a better prospect? I'm somewhat skeptical given exactly half of his goals are on the PP. That will be harder to replicate in North America.

I would have had Virta above Meskanen, but they're close. And Lindqvist is reasonably included, but he's my #3 behind the other two.

 

[Fitzy]

I think people are hyping Lindqvist because he scored a lot in what is considered by many to be the 3rd best, even perhaps the 2nd best league in the world. That said, he'll be 24 before the season even starts which is a big knock against him.

Meskanen has the best size of the three by far.

 

[pblawr]

Virta at 19: 4 points in 33 Liiga games, 6 points in 11 Mestis games (4 in 5 playoff games)
Virta at 20: 26 points in 49 Liiga games, 5 goals in 6 Liiga playoff games
Virta at 21: 40 points in 58 Liiga games, second-most points for a player his age (or younger) behind Vesalainen, #1 pick last year for Winnipeg

Lindqvist at 19: 10 points in 45 games for AIK in SHL
Lindqvist at 20: 16 points in 43 games for AIK in Allsvenskan
Lindqvist at 21: 25 points in 49 games for AIK in Allsvenskan, 6 points in 10 qualification games
Lindqvist at 22: 39 points in 51 games for AIK in Allsvenskan, 9 points in 7 qualification games
Lindqvist at 23: 34 points in 33 games for AIK in SHL

Comparable age 19 seasons, Virta with the clear advantage at age 20 and 21 (both production and league). The question is, does what Lindqvist did during his age 23 season in the SHL make him a better prospect? I'm somewhat skeptical given exactly half of his goals are on the PP. That will be harder to replicate in North America.

I would have had Virta above Meskanen, but they're close. And Lindqvist is reasonably included, but he's my #3 behind the other two.

This is good. I think the Virta / Pajuniemi comparison is interesting too:

Virta at 19/20: 4 points in 33 Liiga games / 0.12 ppg
Pajuniemi at 18 (a year and a half younger than Virta at 19/20): 11 points in 41 Liiga games, including the playoffs / 0.27 ppg

So Pajuniemi just scored at 2.5x the rate that Virta did in his first Liiga season while being 1.5 years younger. At this point in his development, it seems like Pajuniemi is obviously ahead of where Virta was. To be fair, Pajuniemi has much further to go, which adds some uncertainty to his projection, but I think Pajuniemi's youth means he has more upside too and personally, I view that trade off as a positive.

 

[nyr2k2]

This is good. I think the Virta / Pajuniemi comparison is interesting too:

Virta at 19/20: 4 points in 33 Liiga games / 0.12 ppg
Pajuniemi at 18 (a year and a half younger than Virta at 19/20): 11 points in 41 Liiga games, including the playoffs / 0.27 ppg

So Pajuniemi just scored at 2.5x the rate that Virta did in his first Liiga season while being 1.5 years younger. At this point in his development, it seems like Pajuniemi is obviously ahead of where Virta was. To be fair, Pajuniemi has much further to go, which adds some uncertainty to his projection, but I think Pajuniemi's youth means he has more upside too and personally, I view that trade off as a positive.

Yes, I am looking forward to seeing what Pajuniemi can do this year. He's a guy that could be much higher on this list come next year, or even in the interim rankings.

 

[doomscroll]

Meant to vote Nieves, accidentally hit Virta who I would have next out if this list. Add Pajuniemi, then Keane.

 

[CTRanger]

Virta

Add Pajuniemi

 

[eco's bones]

Lindqvist. Bigras.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Add Pajuniemi

 

[Kovalev27]

Lindqvist shouldn't even be on the list. he's not a prospect he's a free agent signing at that age imo.

pionk in no way on earth is a better prospect than nils lundkvist a legit first round talent and one of the youngest kids in the draft. that makes zero sense. pionk does not have anywhere near the upside that lundkvist has.

and the last big glaring one is lettieri another guy that is in no way a top 15 prospect. that's crazy.

Keane Virta Huska Lindbom Fontaine Pajuniemi Sjalin even Gettinger among the guys listed below him should all be on this list before you ever get to lettieri.

 

[eco's bones]

Virta, add Fontaine. Am I the only guy out here who thinks he has a crack at beating out Nieves and others for a bottom 6 role this year?

After that, Keane.

It's possible that Fontaine could beat out Nieves for a bottom 6 spot. Gabriel seems to be a pretty determined individual and a guy who will adjust to a role. That said I think Nieves has a number of advantages over Fontaine. 29 games of NHL experience--he's bigger, stronger and a better skater. Well Boo is as good or better skater than 90% of the league. That's not an issue for him and with his size and strength that's a good combination. I don't expect either is going to be an offensive producer. Nieves has that taste of the NHL--he's been used in a bottom 6 role and not done as badly as some here seem to think. He wasn't on the ice for a lot of goals against. He got penalty killing time. The main issue with him is he's not likely at all to put up a lot of points. Neither though is Fontaine.

 

[Beer League Sniper]

Lindqvist shouldn't even be on the list. he's not a prospect he's a free agent signing at that age imo.

pionk in no way on earth is a better prospect than nils lundkvist a legit first round talent and one of the youngest kids in the draft. that makes zero sense. pionk does not have anywhere near the upside that lundkvist has.

and the last big glaring one is lettieri another guy that is in no way a top 15 prospect. that's crazy.

Keane Virta Huska Lindbom Fontaine Pajuniemi Sjalin even Gettinger among the guys listed below him should all be on this list before you ever get to lettieri.

Everyone has their own way of ranking prospects. No need to get upset because the board's amalgamated opinion differs from yours.

Personally, I'll tend to rank a prospect with NHL games under their belt higher than a younger player with more upside. Others feel very differently. There's no reason to try and invalidate opinions you disagree with.

Anyway, I went with Virta here. I was really close to picking Nieves though. Having a young 4th liner who can skate is a valuable asset.

Add Fontaine.

 

[NYR Viper]

Lindbom add Fontaine

 

[bobbop]

We have severely underrated Lindqvist here.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Everyone has their own way of ranking prospects. No need to get upset because the board's amalgamated opinion differs from yours.

Personally, I'll tend to rank a prospect with NHL games under their belt higher than a younger player with more upside. Others feel very differently. There's no reason to try and invalidate opinions you disagree with.

Anyway, I went with Virta here. I was really close to picking Nieves though. Having a young 4th liner who can skate is a valuable asset.

Add Fontaine.

And by that same logic I value pro experience before the age of 20 over what players have done in junior hockey. It's not a right or wrong way to approach prospects. It's just personal opinion. I rank Pajuniemi and Virta higher than Barron, Ronning. But that's so great about these polls. Differing opinions.

 

[darko]

I think people are hyping Lindqvist because he scored a lot in what is considered by many to be the 3rd best, even perhaps the 2nd best league in the world. That said, he'll be 24 before the season even starts which is a big knock against him.

Meskanen has the best size of the three by far.

SHL isn't better than KHL.

It's between AHL and SHL for 3rd best league.