Hockey's Future has ranked the Rangers #3 in their organization rankings...
Strengths: The Blueshirts' blueline is the jewel of the system. Ryan McDonagh was a key acquisition in the offseason from Montreal, and welcome defensive addition to go with Michael Del Zotto, Bobby Sanguinetti, and Hobey Baker winner Matt Gilroy. Russian power forward Evgeny Grachev has begun to emerge as a powerhouse in junior. The 19-year-old is the organization's top-flight scorer. Fellow Russian Artem Anisimov is also highly prized, and has begun his rookie campaign this season after a dominant year last year in the AHL. McDonagh's teammate with the University of Wisconsin, forward Derek Stepan, also turned heads as a freshman last year.
Weaknesses: The biggest deficit in the system is in goal. With three netminding prospects in the organization, none have distinguished themselves. With difficulty as of late cultivating their own draft choices at the position, free agent Chad Johnson, a Hobey nominee, is the team's best bet as of now.
Top 5 prospects: 1. Evgeny Grachev, C, 2. Artem Anisimov, C, 3. Ryan McDonagh, D, 4. Derek Stepan, C, 5. Michael Del Zotto, D.
...how in the world is Del Zotto only the Rangers fifth best prospect when he's currently starring for the big club and being mentioned as a potential Calder Trophy winner?!?!?!?
...now that I got that off my chest. Every Ranger fan should be ecstatic about the future of this franchise. Not only do they have young kids performing at the top level right now they have a stock pile of younsters who should be making a difference for this team for year's to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment