Prospect Info: 2023-2024 Rangers Prospects Thread (Prospect Stats in Post #1; Updated 05.22.2024)

[eco's bones]

I do like the idea of the Rangers having a number of larger sized forwards who like for real prospects. Going down the list in Hartford it's pretty much Edstrom and Rempe but Othmann isn't really small either. Loved Edstrom's one game showing with the Rangers this year. A 6'8 guy with real skating ability. Rempe's a tough guy but it's not like he doesn't chip in now and again. He was first star in Hartford's win over Cleveland last night....getting two of Hartford's goals including the game winner in the 3rd period. Not quite as good a skater as Edstrom but his skating has improved a lot since we drafted him and it's not too bad now.

As for larger sized prospects not in the pros--Chmelar kind of leads there at 6'5 230 he's a really good skater with an all around game who has played for two Czechia WJC teams. McConnell-Barker and Laba are both 6'2 guys. BMB has IMO the higher upside but Laba plays with a lot of grit and has proven to be a clutch player. Roobroek is another huge 6'7 guy have a good year in Oshawa. I can see him going back for an OA year and maybe then we decide to sign him or not. He doesn't seem overly physical but he's not shy either. Close to a point a game this year. Vaisanen is a 6'4 guy and another maybe we should wait until next year to decide on. Two years for him with the Finland WJC team. And finally Henricks who's a work in progress and will be a freshman next year at Western Michigan U. At 18 he's 6'5 205.

Both of them should and will get NHL contracts. Not signing Laba would be a a dumb mistake and another team would quickly sign him.

Rangers have rights to him for as long as he stays with Colorado College or at the least through his senior year. Same with Chmelar.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

I do like the idea of the Rangers having a number of larger sized forwards who like for real prospects. Going down the list in Hartford it's pretty much Edstrom and Rempe but Othmann isn't really small either. Loved Edstrom's one game showing with the Rangers this year. A 6'8 guy with real skating ability. Rempe's a tough guy but it's not like he doesn't chip in now and again. He was first star in Hartford's win over Cleveland last night....getting two of Hartford's goals including the game winner in the 3rd period. Not quite as good a skater as Edstrom but his skating has improved a lot since we drafted him and it's not too bad now.

As for larger sized prospects not in the pros--Chmelar kind of leads there at 6'5 230 he's a really good skater with an all around game who has played for two Czechia WJC teams. McConnell-Barker and Laba are both 6'2 guys. BMB has IMO the higher upside but Laba plays with a lot of grit and has proven to be a clutch player. Roobroek is another huge 6'7 guy have a good year in Oshawa. I can see him going back for an OA year and maybe then we decide to sign him or not. He doesn't seem overly physical but he's not shy either. Close to a point a game this year. Vaisanen is a 6'4 guy and another maybe we should wait until next year to decide on. Two years for him with the Finland WJC team. And finally Henricks who's a work in progress and will be a freshman next year at Western Michigan U. At 18 he's 6'5 205.



Rangers have rights to him for as long as he stays with Colorado College or at the least through his senior year. Same with Chmelar.

Correct. I was just pointing out they better sign him before they lose his rights and someone else does.

 

[eco's bones]

Correct. I was just pointing out they better sign him before they lose his rights and someone else does.

Mind you I'm not against signing Laba. At the moment I'm a little bit higher on Chmelar. If either of them works out we're talking about striking gold with a 5th (Chmelar) and/or a 4th (Laba) which is fantastic even if you get a bottom line NHL forward. I think both could possibly go higher than 4th line though. The way I look at drafts is you really want your 1st round picks to become NHL players and depending on the depth of the draft....if it's on the deeper side you really want that guy to be a top 6 or a top 4 pairing guy. 2nd rounds is more hoping that you get a good player and if he falls into the bottom 6 either at forward or D you've done okay. After that it's educated guessing moving towards pretty much a free for all. Getting good players out of mid and late round draft picks is like a kid getting candy for Halloween.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Laba was 1 year over age when we drafted him from his USHL team and went straight to college. Chmelar spent one year post draft in Czechia and the season after came over to Providence College.

Personally I could see signing both but if it were just one I would probably go with Chmelar. He's 6'5 and about 230 and he can skate and he's well schooled. Was a big part of two Czech WJC teams. Laba has good size as well and has shown a penchant for getting clutch goals. The ceiling for both is probably 3rd line NHL. No doubts at all really that either wouldn't be handle the step up with physical plays in the pros. Chmelar's massive size and skating ability to me sets a little above but both might be ready for the pros right now.

He played his junior hockey in Finland. Which happening more often these days with young kids from Czechia and Slovakia. Same thing Slafkovský did.

 

[n8]

Do any of Berard, Sykora, Laba, Lamb , Chmelar and Edstrom project to be good scorers if put in 3rd/4th line roles or are they all energy guys?

What does "good scorer" mean to you? For me, a good scoring 4th liner will pot 10 goals and a good scoring 3rd liner will flirt with 20.

Dakota Joshua, Sam Lafferty, Nils Hoglander are all having good seasons but you could say Vancouver is overperforming as a whole. Or are they overperforming because they are getting such good scoring support from their bottom 6? Hoglander has an insane 14 goals in 47 games with just 11:05 average TOI. Daniel Sprong having himself a season too. 31 points in 12:47 TOI. Colton Scissons is a third liner but is a bit of an outlier as he gets lots of PP and SH time so his TOI is closer to a top 6 player come to mind.

 

[rangersfansince08]

What does "good scorer" mean to you? For me, a good scoring 4th liner will pot 10 goals and a good scoring 3rd liner will flirt with 20.

Dakota Joshua, Sam Lafferty, Nils Hoglander are all having good seasons but you could say Vancouver is overperforming as a whole. Or are they overperforming because they are getting such good scoring support from their bottom 6? Hoglander has an insane 14 goals in 47 games with just 11:05 average TOI. Daniel Sprong having himself a season too. 31 points in 12:47 TOI. Colton Scissons is a third liner but is a bit of an outlier as he gets lots of PP and SH time so his TOI is closer to a top 6 player come to mind.

That's around what I would define as a good scorer as well.

 

[Leetch3]

 

[Beer League Sniper]

Th is one is debatable for me. I’d like to space out Chemlar, Perrault, Laba and Lamb. Having all 4 go pro at the same time seems like poor planning as playing time will be hard to come by.

Precisely. We can't sign everyone all at once, and Laba was viewed as a long-term, long-shot prospect anyway. As long as the org feels he wouldn't be hurt by another season, give it to him.

 

[Leetch3]

 

[pld459666]

Not sure I agree that Perrault would gain nothing in the AHL.

It's a step up from NCAA and it would give him a better feel for what the NHL would be like from a speed of the game perspective and from a size disadvantage perspective.

I'd prefer him to spend his sophomore season in NCAA, then half year to a year in the AHL before bringing him up for good (should he earn it)

 

[Beer League Sniper]

Not sure I agree that Perrault would gain nothing in the AHL.

It's a step up from NCAA and it would give him a better feel for what the NHL would be like from a speed of the game perspective and from a size disadvantage perspective.

I'd prefer him to spend his sophomore season in NCAA, then half year to a year in the AHL before bringing him up for good (should he earn it)

I think he'll have at least a stop in the AHL, but I agree with the sentiment to keep him in college as long as possible. If he's tearing up the league, there's not much you can do to stop him from turning pro. But he needs to build his strength, explosiveness, and endurance. There's no better place for him to be than college to do that.

Still, the AHL is a big step up in speed and physicality from college. I wouldn't bank on him not needing to spend at least some time down there to acclimate to the pro game.

 

[eco's bones]

On Perreault and how he looks right now when he does turn pro I would think he'd have a very good shot to make the Rangers right off the bat and skip the AHL altogether and it's because his offensive instincts are on a different level from other 1st round forwards we've had. My guess is he'll spend another year at BC but I wouldn't be shocked if the Rangers sign him for next year.

Also a good chance that they sign Chmelar and Laba.....and the Rangers need types like them if they can show they're NHL worthy. I see both of those guys going to Hartford and the Pack having a bunch of for real NHL forward prospects like pretty much we haven't seen in two decades. But Laba and Chmelar like Berard and Sykora all look like they could turn out to be good middle 6 NHL forwards and Edstrom and Rempe more in a bottom 6 though Edstrom could potentially become a good 3C. Not forgetting Othmann either. Rangers have a lot of good forward prospects IMO.

Lamb is having a good year. He needs another year after this for Minnesota U. though. He's not as ready as Chmelar or Laba.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

1+1 for BMB tonight.

5 points in 3 games since returning from that cheap shot. Glad to see that it hasn't impacted his game.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

1+2 for BMB tonight in a 6-3 loss



Apparently who ever concussed him made him even better.

 

[GAGLine]

1+2 for BMB tonight in a 6-3 loss



Apparently who ever concussed him made him even better.

That's great to see. Keep it up, kid.

 

[GAGLine]

Roobroeck with a couple assists tonight, giving him 41 points in 46 games.

 

[GAGLine]

Lamb with the goal to win it in OT 2-1. He's up to 20 points in 27 games.

 

[Ranger Ric]

I'm watching Omaha-Nebraska against Minnesota-Duluth and looking at Victor Mancini. He's a big kid who gets little attention because he doesn't generate much offense. He plays a calm, solid, physical defensive game. Starts on each PK. Was voted one of the top three defensive defensemen in his conference last year. During the game the announcers talked about his booming shot and how calm he plays. At another point a Minnesota Duluth player went to check him and the announcer said the player bounced off Mancini. He will be 22 this May and I wouldn't be surprised if the Rangers offer him a contract when his college season is over He could be a solid bottom pair defensive defenseman.

 

[E-Train]

I want to see the
Roobroeck-Edstrom-Rempe NBA line in an exhibition game with the big club this September

 

[Mugless]

Lamb with the goal to win it in OT 2-1. He's up to 20 points in 27 games.

 

[2014nyr]

there's a lot of noise about the number of poor skaters we've drafted in recent years - and granted in many cases it's a very legitimate question/concern/critique - lamb is one kid who isn't recognized almost at all for how good a skater he is. that play is a great visual for his explosiveness and control on his edges. he easily torches his man up ice to create the odd man with moore - possibly the best skater outside the nhl - and then gets wide to time the lane for the pass that he takes clean and pulls right into a shooting position rather than dusting it off which gives him time to pick his spot.

the play on the surface is pretty straightforward, basically a competently executed 2 on 1. there's some nuance too it though that demonstrates his skating ability and hands worth mentioning though. for one the pure speed up ice is impressive, i mean he had zero issue exploding beyond the player backchecking to create the odd man - one thing i've always loved about his skating is he's one of those guys that almost looks like they almost glide on top of the ice rather than digging into it and driving off. it's like his blades barely touch the ice. being able to get wide and take that pass at that speed - on his strong side where he can't open up and loses his angle much faster - and be able to just let the weight of the pass pull his stick back into shooting position immediately rather than needing to handle it - is an extremely impressive/difficult play. if he doesn't have control on his edges to time the window in receiving the pass and so that the pass feeds his shooting position, his best case scenario is probably needing to dust the puck off before he could shoot and woulda run outta real estate by the time he could release.

i consider him by far are most intriguing prospect. i say that not because i think he's a lock to become a star, but because he has a toolkit that gives him a chance to be a pretty important player in a variety of roles up and down a lineup. most guys you have a pretty good idea of what they are as a player pretty early, it's just a matter of finding the highest level they can be that at. lamb is fun because there's legitimate uncertainty and potential in what he can become. far from a lock, but it's always fun having some prospects that could legitimately surprise with upside.

 

[RangersFan1994]

1+2 for BMB tonight in a 6-3 loss



Apparently who ever concussed him made him even better.

What is his upside? Derek Stepan 2 way skilled center?

 

[The Crypto Guy]

What is his upside? Derek Stepan 2 way skilled center?

I guess it's a 2nd line center, but I think it's unlikely he reaches that potential. I think a more realistic ceiling would be a 3rd line center who can put up 40 points. Think he will need to put in some work in the AHL for a year or two before consideration to the NHL.

 

[cwede]

What is his upside? Derek Stepan 2 way skilled center?

I guess it's a 2nd line center, but I think it's unlikely he reaches that potential. I think a more realistic ceiling would be a 3rd line center who can put up 40 points. Think he will need to put in some work in the AHL for a year or two before consideration to the NHL.

BMB is taller and skates better and maybe has better hands, but Stepan had 'unteachable intangibles' - instincts and clutch.
Crypto Guy's speculation seems realistic , a middle 6 C w some O

 

[NYR Viper]

If BMB can become something like Eller that’s a win. I think that more likely the hope than a Stepan