Prospect Info: Rangers Prospects Thread (Stats in Post #1; Updated 12.14.18) *Part III*

[GeorgeKaplan]

He really doesn’t belong there. This rebuild just kept slotting him further down. If we didnt sell at the deadline he’s probably still in Hartford. That all being said he has problems with reads and thinking the game... all the tools no tool box.

He’s got a tool box, but his brain doesn’t always keep up with his body, which isn’t a problem totally unique to Day

 

[nyr2k2]

I'd take him on Hartford over Pedrie and Gilmour. Gilmour is 25. He is what he is. Same, really, for Pedrie. Obviously Hajek, Lindgren, Crawley and Bigras should be there and O'Gara is a pretty good AHL defender in his own right.

 

[Ola]

No longer related to us, but in Liiga, Stromwall is the leading scorer, Zaborsky is 7th, and Immonen is tied for 18th.

EDIT: And Ilkka Heikkinen is also tied for 18th! That's a guy for the "Let's Remember Some Guys" thread.

Yeah, the demise of the SM-liigaa as a top quality league raises the question of how performances of kids in that league shall be valued. Look at Elias Pettersson's performance in the second tier league in Sweden, its nothing wrong at all with playing men's hockey at a lower level when you are 17 y/o. But its also not a sure thing quality mark either.

 

[dumpin]

I still think Gilmour is going to be buried on the D depth chart. He should make the switch to wing, and his time in the AHL would be bettter spent.

 

[nyr2k2]

Yeah, the demise of the SM-liigaa as a top quality league raises the question of how performances of kids in that league shall be valued. Look at Elias Pettersson's performance in the second tier league in Sweden, its nothing wrong at all with playing men's hockey at a lower level when you are 17 y/o. But its also not a sure thing quality mark either.

I feel like it wasn't that long ago that many thought of the SM-Liiga as on par with the SEL, as it was. And there was also a time when the Czech Extraliga didn't suck. I don't know what it is. I assume it's the continued expansion of the KHL and the increasing appeal for European players to jump ship there from their domestic league (particularly with KHL teams based in their native countries).

 

[nyr2k2]

I still think Gilmour is going to be buried on the D depth chart. He should make the switch to wing, and his time in the AHL would be bettter spent.

IDK, he's already 25 and will be 26 by the end of the year. Conventional wisdom is that it's easier to switch from D to F than the other way around, but still, you need some time to acclimate. Would he really want to switch, and hope he can make it again at like 28? I personally am not a fan, but he did get some time with us, I don't think it's totally inconceivable that he could find a shitty team with no D depth and get some additional NHL action down the road.

In general, I understand your point though. He certainly doesn't have a future here.

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

Kinda funny though because Gilmour was actually not bad in that short stint with Rangers last season.

 

[eco's bones]

The Rangers look at Gilmour I think as real depth. In Hartford he is an important player--almost integral to the Wolfpack's offense. He has some issues defending. Day may have even more issues defending than Gilmour. Even playing regularly he would not be an integral part of the Wolfpack team. He'd at best be a bottom pairing guy not used in certain situations. He needs to grow more. We could send Pedrie to Maine but then Pedrie would be playing every night and Day would be the extra in Hartford playing only some of the time. IMO he's clearly behind all of Bigras, Hajek, O'Gara, Gilmour, Lindgren and Crawley.

Day is a great skater with really good size and very good puck skills. That combination has never really worked all that well for him though. His offensive numbers were always somewhat underwhelming for the abilities he has. IMO what he really needs to do is work on his defending and moving the puck out of his zone and up the ice and not worry about putting up offense. He needs to simplify his game towards defending the net. That's his road to the NHL. If he can figure that part out--then he can worry about adding offense.

 

[kovazub94]

I feel like it wasn't that long ago that many thought of the SM-Liiga as on par with the SEL, as it was. And there was also a time when the Czech Extraliga didn't suck. I don't know what it is. I assume it's the continued expansion of the KHL and the increasing appeal for European players to jump ship there from their domestic league (particularly with KHL teams based in their native countries).

It's exactly this. There's a limit in KHL for the players without Russian passports so if a team were seeking to bring a non-Russian - it would likely would try to bring a top tier player (because there are plenty of mediocre Russian players to chose from). Look at Traktor - their non-Russian players make up the team's top line and (a half of) its top defense pair. Obviously this results in reduced quality of other Euro leagues where these players came from / would've played otherwise.

 

[Unusual Suspect]

Athlete of the Week Interview: Morgan Barron – Big Red Sports Network

Here’s an interview with Morgan Barron, nothing super interesting in it but there’s never really much out there about him

Talked me into it... just grabbed some of the last few tickets for Princeton/Cornell Jan. 4. About time I saw this kid play!

 

[Inferno]

With all that production, Barron is at PPG (3 gooses, 1 apple) in 4 games played. Also is a plus-2 and 4 PIMs.

Just wondering....is gooses and apples a thing? Like....for real thing?

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

Simon Kjellberg will play for Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute (RPI) next season, i've never heard of an NHLer coming from that hockey program :s

Article on hockeysverige says he made an active choice to go there, not sure how accurate that is but if he did then it feels like he's getting himself setup with a good education for when he's done with hockey but i'm obviously extra cynical because i hated the pick.

Edit: So i'm being told a few decent enough players (and one great one) actually went there so there's hope

Good for him atleast, hopefully he improves enough this season to take a top 6 role on that team next season.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Simon Kjellberg will play for Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute (RPI) next season, i've never heard of an NHLer coming from that hockey program :s

Article on hockeysverige says he made an active choice to go there, not sure how accurate that is but if he did then it feels like he's getting himself setup with a good education for when he's done with hockey but i'm obviously extra cynical because i hated the pick.

Edit: So i'm being told a few decent enough players (and one great one) actually went there so there's hope

Good for him atleast, hopefully he improves enough this season to take a top 6 role on that team next season.

Adam Oates, man!

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

Oates, Juneau, Pirri, Haggerty so it's fine, i was ignorant

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Guys like Kjellberg probably pick a school because of the education first, hockey second

 

[Kovalev27]

Apples def a thing no one I’ve ever played with or against ever called goals gooses though

 

[eco's bones]

RPI's a good school and they usually have a fairly decent hockey team.

 

[Miamipuck]

RPI's a good school and they usually have a fairly decent hockey team.

Yeah it's a very good school academically and used to have a great program. I played with a couple of guys that went there and they're phenomenal hockey players. They played pro in Europe, in the SHL and such. Nobody famous but still.

 

[Irishguy42]

RPI's a good school and they usually have a fairly decent hockey team.

The last team that was legitimately good was in 2011 when they went to the NCAA tourney and they got stomped in the first game 6-0.

After that, it's really been nothing but mediocre and bad times for us fans...

A few bright spots in terms of players (Pirri, Haggerty, and Melanson to name a few)

But, if he wants to set himself up for a post-hockey career, RPI will be a good school academically, depending on his program. There is a lot of controversy with the school's president and whatnot, but he should be fine.

 

[eco's bones]

Yeah it's a very good school academically and used to have a great program. I played with a couple of guys that went there and they're phenomenal hockey players. They played pro in Europe, in the SHL and such. Nobody famous but still.

I use to work with this guy--we weren't really friends but we got along okay. His daughter went to RPI. He used to go to their games all the time. He was really late into hockey though so he didn't really know the game all that well. But for him it was fun and a chance to visit more. It's a good thing and his daughter's done really well.

 

[Miamipuck]

I use to work with this guy--we weren't really friends but we got along okay. His daughter went to RPI. He used to go to their games all the time. He was really late into hockey though so he didn't really know the game all that well. But for him it was fun and a chance to visit more. It's a good thing and his daughter's done really well.

Lol I believe that. I also played with a kid about 4 years ago that didn't make the team but he had a perfect math score on his SAT. He was a damn good hockey player too.

 

[nyr2k2]

Its kind of setting the bar low to suggest Melanson and Haggerty as bright spots. Haggerty is an average/above-average AHL player and Melanson is in the ECHL right now. Oates and Juneau for sure, but that was like 30 years ago.

Erik Burgdoerfer got a few NHL games in. 2 last season, even. Jerry D'Amigo, but he was only there for a year. Brian Pothier. There are dozens and dozens of other guys that had lengthy AHL/ECHL careers or careers overseas, so they absolutely still produce professional level talent, just rarely NHL-caliber talent. Most of the guys with NHL careers that played at RPI are like Oates and Juneau and played there decades back.

It's not to shit on RPI. It's a terrific school. The hockey program is mediocre at best. But, the good thing is that Kjellberg got an offer to go play somewhere. I wasn't totally sure it would happen. I was pretty certain it wouldn't come from a big/good program, but still--if he ends up being a decent college player he'll get plenty of minutes at RPI and the opportunity to face some pretty good players. It's a good deal.

Also, here's an alumni list for those who want to take a stroll down memory lane and remember some guys like Darren Puppa: R.P.I. Hockey Alumni Report at hockeydb.com

 

[eco's bones]

Mark Jooris I think is an RPI guy. Either that or Union. Darren Puppa was a pretty decent NHL goalie. Oates and Juneau. I have a pal who use to be an assistant coach for a junior team out of Binghamton NY coached by one time NY Rangers prospect (early 70's) Pierre Laganiere---his kid (who is in the Marine Corps now) played on the same team with Jerry D'Amigo.

 

[Irishguy42]

Its kind of setting the bar low to suggest Melanson and Haggerty as bright spots. Haggerty is an average/above-average AHL player and Melanson is in the ECHL right now. Oates and Juneau for sure, but that was like 30 years ago.

Erik Burgdoerfer got a few NHL games in. 2 last season, even. Jerry D'Amigo, but he was only there for a year. Brian Pothier. There are dozens and dozens of other guys that had lengthy AHL/ECHL careers or careers overseas, so they absolutely still produce professional level talent, just rarely NHL-caliber talent. Most of the guys with NHL careers that played at RPI are like Oates and Juneau and played there decades back.

It's not to **** on RPI. It's a terrific school. The hockey program is mediocre at best. But, the good thing is that Kjellberg got an offer to go play somewhere. I wasn't totally sure it would happen. I was pretty certain it wouldn't come from a big/good program, but still--if he ends up being a decent college player he'll get plenty of minutes at RPI and the opportunity to face some pretty good players. It's a good deal.

Also, here's an alumni list for those who want to take a stroll down memory lane and remember some guys like Darren Puppa: R.P.I. Hockey Alumni Report at hockeydb.com

It's not "kind of setting the bar low."

I went to pretty much every game of the season (home games and decent-ish traveling games) for 7 years. They were pretty much the bright spots while I was schooling/working in the area, along with a few others.

The team as a whole was disappointing more often than not.

Sure, they produced some pro-talent, but nothing NHL-caliber in years aside from Pirri and potentially Bailen (he never really got a shot outside of Rochester for 9 games and I think he could be a decent NHLer). Then you have Haggerty/D'Amigo/Burgdoerfer who are AHLers at best. Heck, I even thought Allen York would be a good backup in the NHL, but he's in the NCHL right now years after a good stint in Columbus.

The bar for the RPI men's program has been low for a while, and I don't have too much faith in Smith right now, but it's still early.

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

Talked me into it... just grabbed some of the last few tickets for Princeton/Cornell Jan. 4. About time I saw this kid play!

The Tigers have some intriguing UDFA candidates for this offseason as well. We will expect a report on Max Véronneau, Ryan Kuffner, Alex Riche, and Josh Teves as well as Barron.