Prospect Info: Rangers Prospect Thread (Player Stats/Info in Post #2; Updated 10.7.20)

Status
Not open for further replies.

nyr2k2

Can't Beat Him
Jul 30, 2005
45,660
32,732
Maryland
To his point though, will he get enough work in Liiga?
Hard for me to imagine he would. Outside of international tournaments, he just hasn't been good. He was never good in the J20 and he wasn't good in Allsvenskan last year, even before the injury. Hard to see a Liiga team going into the season with any plans to give him big playing time when he hasn't demonstrated the ability to play well in domestic competition, at a lower level.

The point about the transfer fees, that's certainly a thing and may be the reason he has any interest from top-flight teams in the first place. He'd still have to actually play well to earn time and I'm not sure he has it in him at this point.
 

Amazing Kreiderman

Registered User
Apr 11, 2011
44,816
40,285
Hard for me to imagine he would. Outside of international tournaments, he just hasn't been good. He was never good in the J20 and he wasn't good in Allsvenskan last year, even before the injury. Hard to see a Liiga team going into the season with any plans to give him big playing time when he hasn't demonstrated the ability to play well in domestic competition, at a lower level.

The point about the transfer fees, that's certainly a thing and may be the reason he has any interest from top-flight teams in the first place. He'd still have to actually play well to earn time and I'm not sure he has it in him at this point.

Liiga may benefit him with the smaller rinks. It's a bit of an adjustment going from IIHF to hybrid rinks but hey. You never know.
 
  • Like
Reactions: egelband

nyr2k2

Can't Beat Him
Jul 30, 2005
45,660
32,732
Maryland
Lindbom out of contract, so free transfer.

He could sign with Sport, Saipa or Jukurit to be a starter and face a ton of rubber.
Would those teams give Lindbom an opportunity to start? 20 year old who has barely played the last two years and hasn't been good when he has?
 

Amazing Kreiderman

Registered User
Apr 11, 2011
44,816
40,285
Lindbom out of contract, so free transfer.

He could sign with Sport, Saipa or Jukurit to be a starter and face a ton of rubber.

The Rangers are involved in the decision. I'm sure they will try to find the right fit for him both on a personal and professsional level. He doesn't really want to say more about it at this point, but he knows that it's important to have a full season without injuries to finally take that next step
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: egelband

TheWhiskeyThief

Registered User
Dec 24, 2017
1,625
496
Would those teams give Lindbom an opportunity to start? 20 year old who has barely played the last two years and hasn't been good when he has?
All those teams have goalies out of contract and the goalies they do have are all sub .900 save%

Those teams weren’t pulled out of a hat.
 

Amazing Kreiderman

Registered User
Apr 11, 2011
44,816
40,285
All those teams have goalies out of contract and the goalies they do have are all sub .900 save%

Those teams weren’t pulled out of a hat.

SaiPa will probably go with a more experienced goalie in addition to Kaarlehto, with Westerholm most likely going back to NA

Jukurit and VS makes sense if he wants to be the backup. But is he going to move to Finland to be a backup? That's not really the right move for his career unless his destination is Mestis (Yikes).

I am sure Mikko Eloranta will reach out to him if he's serious about a move to Finland. Replacing Annunen in Oulo could work assuming Colorado brings him over.
 
  • Like
Reactions: egelband

nyr2k2

Can't Beat Him
Jul 30, 2005
45,660
32,732
Maryland
All those teams have goalies out of contract and the goalies they do have are all sub .900 save%

Those teams weren’t pulled out of a hat.
Yeah and Lindbom posted numbers like that in J20 and Allsvenskan. I didn't suggest you pulled them out of a hat--I was just curious if you thought they'd be interested in starting a goaltender who has performed as poorly as their own guys, at lower levels, while missing most of the last two seasons.

It just seems like it would be an odd decision for a team that had goaltending issues to try to solve them by handing the reigns to a 20 year old who has been injured and bad the last two years. I could understand bringing him on as a backup, but that wouldn't really help Lindbom, who acknowledged he just needs to play.
 
  • Like
Reactions: egelband

nyr2k2

Can't Beat Him
Jul 30, 2005
45,660
32,732
Maryland
Well at 20 years old, being splitting time in the Mestis and Liiga wouldn't be bad for Lindbom. It's about minutes and coaching. COL's pick that AK mentioned just had a monster year, goalie of the year I believe. I would go to that program and see what that was all about.
It's tough, though, since you don't really go back-and-forth between Liiga and Mestis. You can go out on loan, and you can certainly do it multiple times in a year, or to multiple teams, but you can't do an NHL/AHL recall/reassignment thing. Same for SHL and Allsvenskan.

Two season ago, Annunen (the COL goalie) went on loan to Mestis and played all year there, splitting starts with a guy that did much better than him. Annunen wasn't good. Then he has an awesome season the next year when he won a spot with Karpat, where he was great--although again, in a time share (he got like 40% of the starts). It's hard to know what, where, and when it "clicked" for Annunen.

I think if he wants a legitimate opportunity to start, he'll probably have to look to Mestis or Allsvenskan. I just can't imagine a top-flight team would want to gamble on him suddenly being a healthy, competent starter.

If I was NYR I would actually consider signing him and sending him to Maine. See what he can do. If he sucks then he'll probably want to go home anyway and you can just loan him or terminate his contract. Might be a better route than hoping he finds a good spot in Europe.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheWhiskeyThief

cwede

Registered User
Sep 1, 2010
9,726
7,553
I ...If I was NYR I would actually consider signing him and sending him to Maine. See what he can do. If he sucks then he'll probably want to go home anyway and you can just loan him or terminate his contract. Might be a better route than hoping he finds a good spot in Europe.

I get the point here.
My first gut response is that's a big high-risk/high-reward gamble with a possibly high-upside asset.
But after 2 meh post-draft seasons, he is at a crossroads.
And as G in 2d round, he's been a high-risk/high-reward gamble all along.

I wish I had more faith in the coaching and development at Maine...
but NYR do have Benny, and these guys
Goaltending Consultants Jeff Malcolm, Eric Raymond
New York Rangers Directory
 
  • Like
Reactions: nyr2k2

nyr2k2

Can't Beat Him
Jul 30, 2005
45,660
32,732
Maryland
I get the point here.
My first gut response is that's a big high-risk/high-reward gamble with a possibly high-upside asset.
But after 2 meh post-draft seasons, he is at a crossroads.
And as G in 2d round, he's been a high-risk/high-reward gamble all along.

I wish I had more faith in the coaching and development at Maine...
but NYR do have Benny, and these guys
Goaltending Consultants Jeff Malcolm, Eric Raymond
New York Rangers Directory
Yeah it will be interesting to see how our guys do developmentally in Maine. Gropp was down there briefly, after the suspension, and he came back up pretty quick. Sounds like Day personally thought he did well developing in Maine--I think the ship had just sailed on him, unfortunately. Beyond that there's not a big track record since the guys in Maine were not the guys in Greenville (coaches I mean). We shall see.

It's a good point that Lindbom was a second round pick--that's an investment of fairly substantial draft capital. Which is a big part of why I think you gamble on Lindbom (again) and try to sign him to that ELC, and let him work on things over here. That is, assuming you can give him starts. Allsvenskan is probably a bit better than the ECHL, Mestis maybe on par or not quite. They're all fairly close in overall quality. So if you can get him big starts while also having your guys work with him, I think you do it. I think it's more of a gamble to leave him fighting for time in Europe where you don't directly control his situation.

My gut tells me none of it will end up mattering in the end, but still, we made the investment and now we need to make sure to maximize the ROI.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Barnaby

TheWhiskeyThief

Registered User
Dec 24, 2017
1,625
496
Yeah it will be interesting to see how our guys do developmentally in Maine. Gropp was down there briefly, after the suspension, and he came back up pretty quick. Sounds like Day personally thought he did well developing in Maine--I think the ship had just sailed on him, unfortunately. Beyond that there's not a big track record since the guys in Maine were not the guys in Greenville (coaches I mean). We shall see.

It's a good point that Lindbom was a second round pick--that's an investment of fairly substantial draft capital. Which is a big part of why I think you gamble on Lindbom (again) and try to sign him to that ELC, and let him work on things over here. That is, assuming you can give him starts. Allsvenskan is probably a bit better than the ECHL, Mestis maybe on par or not quite. They're all fairly close in overall quality. So if you can get him big starts while also having your guys work with him, I think you do it. I think it's more of a gamble to leave him fighting for time in Europe where you don't directly control his situation.

My gut tells me none of it will end up mattering in the end, but still, we made the investment and now we need to make sure to maximize the ROI.

Mestis is a glorified beer league. Liiga is low end AHL(Karpat, Tappara, maybe Lukko) high end ECHL league(everybody else) while Allsvenskan bottom half of the table is a crummy ECHL quality.
 

Mikos87

Registered User
Mar 19, 2002
9,064
3,244
Visit site
I think there is more speed and motion in the European game down through their leagues.

The SHL is a fast league, the NLA is a fast league. The lesser leagues aren't as fast, but the drop off to them, versus the drop off from the National league to the E is far steeper. Even the German league's pace will impress you. IMO the disparity in speed in the European leagues is dictated more by systems and play style than skating ability alone. Those leagues have a lot of former NHLers, and Junior stars.

IMO the game needs to be more open about importing developed European league players. There are guys there that can skate, and fill a role. Kind of like a Nygard in EDM. It's a good way to get an effective <$1M contract to fill a role.
 

Joey Bones

***** 2k16
Jul 27, 2012
10,663
4,409
Nowhere
So now that June 1st has passed and the Rangers didn't sign Gross, we can now move onto the next group of prospects who will be FA's if not signed....

- Morgan Barron (Aug. 15, 2021)
- Calle Sjalin (June 1, 2021)
- Hunter Skinner (June 1, 2021)

I do think the Rangers will sign Barron, but not Sjalin. He would need a stellar year to show any sign of progress. I'm on the fence with Skinner, but do think he will be signed, too. We'll see what happens.
 

nyr2k2

Can't Beat Him
Jul 30, 2005
45,660
32,732
Maryland
So now that June 1st has passed and the Rangers didn't sign Gross, we can now move onto the next group of prospects who will be FA's if not signed....

- Morgan Barron (Aug. 15, 2021)
- Calle Sjalin (June 1, 2021)
- Hunter Skinner (June 1, 2021)

I do think the Rangers will sign Barron, but not Sjalin. He would need a stellar year to show any sign of progress. I'm on the fence with Skinner, but do think he will be signed, too. We'll see what happens.
Barron is 100%. If he doesn't sign, it's because he doesn't want to.

At this point, Skinner is a big yes. He had an up and down season but has good skill, good size. Unless he regresses next season or shows no progress at all, I think he's good.

Sjalin, he's going to have to stick with Leksands and actually look decent. If he gets loaned out again--out of the SHL--I think that's it for him. Would help if he could stay healthy. In 18-19 I thought his game took a step forward, but he couldn't stay on the ice. This past year was just a total wash.
 

cwede

Registered User
Sep 1, 2010
9,726
7,553
So now that June 1st has passed and the Rangers didn't sign Gross, we can now move onto the next group of prospects who will be FA's if not signed....
...- Calle Sjalin (June 1, 2021)
... but not Sjalin. He would need a stellar year to show any sign of progress.

...Sjalin, he's going to have to stick with Leksands and actually look decent. If he gets loaned out again--out of the SHL--I think that's it for him. Would help if he could stay healthy. In 18-19 I thought his game took a step forward, but he couldn't stay on the ice. This past year was just a total wash.

FWIW Sjalin's older brother, Pontus, also a D, drafted by Wild, at a slightly later spot than Calle, had a stronger age 20 season than Calle had, with 35 SHL games, but eventually went unsigned by MW, and has stayed in SHL
Pontus Själin at eliteprospects.com
Calle Själin at eliteprospects.com
 
  • Like
Reactions: egelband and nyr2k2

kovazub94

Enigmatic
Aug 5, 2010
12,298
8,097
So now that June 1st has passed and the Rangers didn't sign Gross, we can now move onto the next group of prospects who will be FA's if not signed....

- Morgan Barron (Aug. 15, 2021)
- Calle Sjalin (June 1, 2021)
- Hunter Skinner (June 1, 2021)

I do think the Rangers will sign Barron, but not Sjalin. He would need a stellar year to show any sign of progress. I'm on the fence with Skinner, but do think he will be signed, too. We'll see what happens.

From reports Skinner had a pretty good developmental year last year. Why are you on the fence?
 

Fitzy

Very Stable Genius
Jan 29, 2009
34,878
21,424
It's really early to say but the 2019 draft class looks quite promising so far.

If Henriksson and Aaltonen had somewhat underwhelming seasons, the fact that Edstrom played regularly for the SHL, the performance of Zac Jones, and that Ciccollini held his own in the NCAA are good news.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Joey Bones

Amazing Kreiderman

Registered User
Apr 11, 2011
44,816
40,285
It's really early to say but the 2019 draft class looks quite promising so far.

If Henriksson and Aaltonen had somewhat underwhelming seasons, the fact that Edstrom played regularly for the SHL, the performance of Zac Jones, and that Ciccollini held his own in the NCAA are good news.

Agreed. When it comes to Skinner he has done better than I expected but I still wish he would have gone the college route. Having just 2 years to decide with him may not be enough.

Jones is the real start of the draft class so far in terms of exceeding expectations. Robertson was as good as could be expected and did not disppoint. Ciccolini suffered an injury but in the limited time he played he was good for a 7th rounder.

I think Henriksson's biggest issue is playing for a team with the best depth. If he had played for any other team in the top-8 of the SHL, he had a much better shot at being an SHL regular.
 

charliemurphy

Registered User
Feb 16, 2004
2,432
718
Brooklyn, NY
Anyone have any insight on Pajuniemi? Is he staying with TPS for another season then coming over the following season... assuming all goes well?
 

TheWhiskeyThief

Registered User
Dec 24, 2017
1,625
496
Anyone have any insight on Pajuniemi? Is he staying with TPS for another season then coming over the following season... assuming all goes well?
A homeless man’s Ovechkin. Would be good for Hartford, but he’s a top 6 or not in the lineup kind of player. Has one more year with TPS.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->