Prospect Info: Zachary Jones, LD, 3rd round, 68th overall, 2019

[Amazing Kreiderman]

But...but...but...but....I've been told the Rangers drafting is bad!

Sure. We haven't drafted McDavid, MacKinnon, Eichel, Matthews, Makar, Dahlin or Heiskanen 21st overall. SHAME ON THEM!

 

[Irishguy42]

Sure. We haven't drafted McDavid, MacKinnon, Eichel, Matthews, Makar, Dahlin or Heiskanen 21st overall. SHAME ON THEM!

Fire Gorton for not making the Rangers as bad as the pre-McDavid Oilers.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Fire Gorton for not making the Rangers as bad as the pre-McDavid Oilers.

Rangers are better at drafting than the Avalanche. It shouldn't even be up for debate. Yet everyone is praising Sakic for picking good players in the top-5 of the draft

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Rangers are better at drafting than the Avalanche. It shouldn't even be up for debate. Yet everyone is praising Sakic for picking good players in the top-5 of the draft

hey now Rantanen was a 10th overall. Much better pick than some guys we've taken in the top 10...

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

hey now Rantanen was a 10th overall. Much better pick than some guys we've taken in the top 10...

Yeah. Rantanen was a good pick. But once they get outside the top-10, my god. Are they clueless

 

[Miamipuck]

1. So small defensemen can't make it to the NHL? How about Fox? Or DeAngelo, Morrissey, McAvoy, Spurgeon, Niskanen, Ellis, Barrie, Letang, Pionk, Krug, Makar, Hughes? All of them small D-men.

2. You don't know if Jones, Robertson or Miller will make it in the NHL. All 3 are question marks until they do. Every prospect is. You could easily say that Miller is the least likely to successfully complete that transition.

The Bruins have been the most consistent team the last decade, and they have done it with small defensemen. This notion that small defensemen can't be effecti e int he play offs is bullshit. It's about so much more than size. This is no different than the people saying "uhhh, we need to draft more North Americans because Euros are soft". The Rangers have big rugged guys on the blue line in Trouba and Lindgren. Adding a lanky Robertson to that mix is great. But you can't have 6 of those. You need a mixed bag of skills on your team, both on offense and defense.

Had you been replying to a serious post(er) this is a solid reply.

Duncan Keith is no giant and the Blackhwaks won the 2015 Stanley Cup largely because he had the best playoffs in recent memory for a single defenseman. You don't need giants to win, you need skilled players and players that can avoid beatings.

Edit: Keith is listed as 6'1". He's bigger than I thought. Oh well. Still I still don't think you need giants on the backend to win.

 

[nyr2k2]

I remember Rosie catching a ton of shit for not being more physical. He was like 6'1" 215. Tom Poti, he was a good player despite the hate he received. He was like 6'3" or 6'4". He wasn't physical, though. Size is only important to a degree. Lack of size can be offset by a guy's mentality, like with Lindgren who many have mentioned.

 

[Savant]

hey now Rantanen was a 10th overall. Much better pick than some guys we've taken in the top 10...

Rantanen went tenth because of how strong that draft was. Look who went in front of him.

The Devils taking Zacha in that first round is their Jesssiman/McIlrath moment.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Rantanen went tenth because of how strong that draft was. Look who went in front of him.

The Devils taking Zacha in that first round is their Jesssiman/McIlrath moment.

well not quite because Zacha is a useful NHLer, but yes they did beef it. And goes to show you that you can never pencil in your top 10 pick to be a surefire stud, not even in a "Generational" draft.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Rantanen went tenth because of how strong that draft was. Look who went in front of him.

The Devils taking Zacha in that first round is their Jesssiman/McIlrath moment.

Well no, but Zacha sucks.

Devils have done a shit job of drafting/developing talent. They've basically been a really bad team for 8 years and our FO did more good things in an offseason than they have since 2012.

I hate that Shero is no longer there though.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Interview is out!

 

[haveandare]

Interview is out!

Really great work as always. Thanks for doing this!

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Really great work as always. Thanks for doing this!

Any time.

Adam Húska is next. Albeit, a shorter one. Jones was a 45 minute Zoom call, Húska was over email so not the same amount of detail haha

 

[darko]

Interview is out!

Brilliant as always.

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

Great interview with Jones. Says all the right things and oozes positivity. Love this kid as a prospect.

 

[Leetch3]

https://nypost.com/2020/12/12/rangers-stoked-about-zac-jones-rising-potential/

 

[Fitzy]

He's in good hands with Greg Carvel, the man is an extraordinary coach.

 

[ecemleafs]

He's in good hands with Greg Carvel, the man is an extraordinary coach.

i just looked at his wiki page and his "records" are amusing.

Records
Coach
Single-season win record at UMass (31)
Single-season Loss record at UMass (29)

lol

 

[Fitzy]

i just looked at his wiki page and his "records" are amusing.

Records
Coach
Single-season win record at UMass (31)
Single-season Loss record at UMass (29)

lol

Yeah both SLU and UMass had gone to shit by 2016, Carvel moved over and he's been able to make leaps and bounds with the program.

Meanwhile SLU is barely playing at Atlantic division level and having difficulty getting any talented commitments. We've always been short on drafted NHL talent but now it's even getting more difficult to find competent 'overage' players who come in at 20-21 years old as Freshmen.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

This kid is going to end up being a solid NHL player, I’m just not convinced it’s here

Obviously it’s tough to predict but I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if he’s part of a package to acquire a bigger roster piece in the near future

 

[The Crypto Guy]

This kid is going to end up being a solid NHL player, I’m just not convinced it’s here

Obviously it’s tough to predict but I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if he’s part of a package to acquire a bigger roster piece in the near future

In the near future? I don't think so, we still don't know how our prospects will turn out so he is not yet expandable. If some of our players like Miller, Lundvist, etc turn out to be legit NHLers then yes he likely will be moved.

Who knows, we might have found another player like Fox...i'm not trading him any time soon.

 

[Matz03]

Rangers are better at drafting than the Avalanche. It shouldn't even be up for debate. Yet everyone is praising Sakic for picking good players in the top-5 of the draft

He’s also acquired great picks and players he had to move out, so there’s that. He got Graves, an nhl d man for nothing.

 

[egelband]

He’s also acquired great picks and players he had to move out, so there’s that. He got Graves, an nhl d man for nothing.

If Ryan Graves is near the top of your resumé I’m not sure it’s too convincing. The Duchene trade was great. And Rantanen was a good pick. And personally I think a GMs credo needs to be avoiding mistakes more than anything else. And he does that. But I also think the guy gets overrated. Born on third base, so to speak.

 

[Kaapo Hollweg]

If Ryan Graves is near the top of your resumé I’m not sure it’s too convincing. The Duchene trade was great. And Rantanen was a good pick. And personally I think a GMs credo needs to be avoiding mistakes more than anything else. And he does that. But I also think the guy gets overrated. Born on third base, so to speak.

You can't make any high profile mistakes if you are avoiding any high profile trades at all cost.