Hockey is clearly approaching, as Corey Pronman, whose opinion I respect a lot, listed his organizational prospects ratings as well as his top-100 overall. His main caveat is that his definition for a NHL prospect is one with 25 or fewer NHL games played this past season, or, 50 total career games. So, for example, Leon Draisaitl, Derrick Pouliot and Mikhail Grigorenko are not considered prospects. His rating for the Rangers really is not a big surprise and in line with what most of us should have expected.
Organizationally, he has the Rangers 29th after ranking 28th a year ago. His comment on the team was: "The Rangers have committed a full-force effort to winning now by moving high picks and top youngsters such as Anthony Duclair. The Rangers' scouts, given limited resources, have actually done fine in bringing in some talent, getting some AHL options for the big club and acquiring depth. However, other than Pavel Buchnevich, there is no top-end prospect in the organization."
There will be more on Buchnevich by Pronman later and really, how can one argue the above view? Other than Buchnevich, the one player who likely should have been top-100 - again, see below - was Brady Skjei. You could possibly add in Brandon Halverson or Igor Shesterkin to that mix and say that those four should have pushed the Rangers up the ladder maybe to the low-20s.
But what we have seen from the Rangers prospects the past several seasons is that while they may not be elite, you could view them as contributors, especially as they got comfortable at the parent level. For example, JT Miller and Jesper Fast may not be elite, but they clearly are top-nine NHL material, with more expected from Miller. The hope is that at a minimum, Oscar Lindberg proves the same, while expectations for Skjei are probably a lot higher.
No one knows how this year's picks will end, maybe Ryan Gropp or Robin Kovacs will end up as top-tier prospects or at least ones that can fill a top-nine role. Duclair, Buchnevich and Tambellini all were third round picks that appear likely to pan out much higher than where they were selected. So while Corey's rankings as well as what we have seen from the Hockey News come as no surprise and is something that has to be fixed in the future, as long as New York continues to stay in contention for the Cup, grab drafted players who don't sign or college free agents and strike gold with lower round picks, the current model may be sustainable. But to me, it is one that has to be tweaked, where first round picks are valued.
In Corey's top-100, he only has Buchnevich listed there at 14. For Pavel, he wrote, "Buchnevich's 18- and 19-year-old seasons have been some of the very best in the history of the KHL, showing he can play versus men at a high level in the world's second-best league. He's a winger with great puck skills, impressive hockey sense and above-average speed. He has size to couple with that and while he's bulked up a fair amount, some more could help before he hits the NHL. Buchy is not a complete prospect, but he's consistently dangerous offensively. He should be in the NHL in 2016-17, or as a potential late season add after his KHL season ends."
While he wasn't able to crack the top-10, Shesterkin was ranked No. 3 in the honorable mentions portion of ESPN goaltending rankings. I have to say, I expected Halverson to be ranked in the top-100 in general and to be above Shesterkin for goalies. So this ranks as a bit of a surprise to me.
To me, the were several other interesting things about the list. First, several players from this year's draft were listed, including no surprise, McDavid and Eichel at 1-2. As no Rangers were listed, despite Pronman giving the team a B for their draft, none of the players they selected rated as in the top-100. In addition, DuClair, who the Rangers dealt to Arizona to get Keith Yandle, came in at 16. Last, Lawson Crouse and Timo Meier, who the Rangers reportedly had targeted if they made that big Cam Talbot deal I mentioned, came in at 23 and 67, while Oliver Kylington, who many of us wanted selected in the second round and went 60th, was rated 35th.
The Rangers farm system isn't barren, but it looks to lack many high-level prospects, hopefully there are some surprises and breakouts this year, which will move the system and player rankings up. Plus, allow for deals to be made if necessary.