As we wait for white smoke to come from the Board of Governors meetings to inform us of a final decision on the draft etc., topics to cover are a bit thin. Player review, check. Front office and coaches review, check. All-time Rangers team, been there, done that. I give Larry Brooks credit as he has been finding interesting rankings to post. Today was "Ranking the Rangers’ best undrafted college signings."
Ranking the Rangers' best undrafted college free agent signings. https://t.co/rkDL7L62aw via @nypostsports
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) May 6, 2020
The list is not the finest in the league. A few players that helped the team and played key roles, but the overall list is kind of meh. Signing these players are very hit-and-miss. As Brooks noted, of the Rangers’ previous 24 signings of undrafted college players in the universal draft era that commenced in 1970, 10 didn't or have not yet made the NHL and one played one game.
That list excludes this year's three signings, as written in the NY Post: Patrick Khodorenko, a 21-year-old center who led Michigan State in scoring with a 16-33-49 senior season, is in. So is Austin Rueschhoff, the 22-year-old, 6-foot-7, 228-pound winger who recorded 26 points (12-14) as a junior for Western Michigan. Last but not least in projections is Justin Richards, the 5-10 righty center who went 14-11-25 as a junior for Minnesota Duluth. Maybe one of all three make the team and carve out a relatively significant role, but as seen above, the odds are not necessarily in their favor.
From the remaining 13, Brooks has Mark Pavelich, Cam Talbot and Neal Pionk ranked 1-3. Based on the list, hard to argue with that placement. Open to ideas if you differ.
What this column got me thinking was who would you have as your top handful of undrafted collegiate players in NHL history, at least in the recent era? The key is collegiate, which excludes all foreign born players who played overseas and did not attend a US or I would guess, Canadian college. In addition, those players who attempted to go right to the pros and were signed after the draft would also be excluded; Dan Girardi for example is not included on the list for the column.
For me, the first team would be Martin St. Louis, who played a year-plus with the Rangers, Adam Oates, the sublime assist man and half of Hull & Oates, Joe Mullen, a NYC native who got away but whose brother, Brian, played for the Blueshirts, John LeClair, who tormented the Rangers as part of the Legion of Doom, Brian Rafalski, one of the poster boys for undersized, offensive defenseman and someone Rangers fans saw a ton of with the Devils. and Ed Belfour, who won a Cup with Dallas, though you could go with Curtis Joseph, who like Mike Richter, played at the University of Wisconsin.
Others on the list would include Jason Blake, who played for the Isles, Doug Brown, who won a Cup with Detroit and was a slid bottom-six winger, Jeff Halpern. who played almost 1,000 games in the NHL, including a cup of coffee with the Rangers, Chris Kunitz, who spent the best part of his career with Pittsburgh, John Madden, a key member of the Devils' championship runs,, and Dave Poulin, whose best years were in Philly The blueline would be Dan Boyle, who we all know what his tenure in New York was like, Andy Greene, hey look, another undrafted New Jersey find, and Torey Krug, a thorn in the Rangers side in the playoff series against the Bruins in 2013, In net would be Glenn Healy, who first played for the Isles, then joined the Rangers and was on the 1993-94 Cup winning team, and Jon Casey, who like Belfour, played for North Dakota.
Who is on your top team or list?