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Draft 2024 NHL Draft Prospects & Undrafted Free Agents

Rangers should only draft players from High School, USHL, College, CHL, OHL, WHL, QMJHL. Players that are already used to the smaller ice surface. Regardless of their nationality. Anyone else agree this could be an issue with some of the Rangers prospects like Kakko for example?
 
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rangersfansince08 said:
no way we keep our first rounder right?
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I honestly think they do. NYR are close to the cap and won't have that much space unless they pay a team to double retain. So that leaves high salary players out unless Goodrow is moved. Also after the last playoffs I don't think they go big game hunting. At most go for a 3rw or 3c. Even those are a stretch if KK & Wheeler start to heat up closer to the deadline, and Chytil is healthy. I only see them going for 4th liners who are tougher like Trenin or 7d to upgrade Jones. Even the 4th line addition is a question since when Chytil is healthy you have to scratch one of Vesey or Pitlick which is already tough. Granted I wouldn't mind Bonino being the scratch but PL loves him.
 
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RangersFan1994 said:
Rangers should only draft players from High School, USHL, College, CHL, OHL, WHL, QMJHL. Players that are already used to the smaller ice surface. Regardless of their nationality. Anyone else agree this could be an issue with some of the Rangers prospects like Kakko for example?
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I agree it can be an issue and a factor to consider but I wouldn't say they should only draft players used to playing on smaller surfaces. That would exclude Sykora and Edstrom who look like they can play and would you not draft Tim Stutzle or Leon Carlsson or .... ?
 
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Ranger Ric said:
I agree it can be an issue and a factor to consider but I wouldn't say they should only draft players used to playing on smaller surfaces. That would exclude Sykora and Edstrom who look like they can play and would you not draft Tim Stutzle or Leon Carlsson or .... ?
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The ice-surface debate is so short-sighted.

There are tons of examples of players who made the jump straight from Europe to the NHL, playing on the smaller rinks. If you're good enough, you can make the adjustment.
 
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Timrå / Rögle is about to start. Looks like Simon Zether will be in the lineup again. I'm not getting my hopes up. Like many kids that age playing in the SHL, they don't play much of a role. Very, very little minutes. I wouldn't get caught up on his SHL numbers, theres games where he's playing under 5 minutes. I don't know if we keep our first this year but hes a guy worth keeping tabs on. Big talented 2-way center. Many lists have him somewhere in the 2nd round. Let's be honest, it's still very early.. talented centers with that frame usually don't last that long. I'll be surprised if he doesn't start climbing up the rankings.
 
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B17 Apricots said:
Timrå / Rögle is about to start. Looks like Simon Zether will be in the lineup again. I'm not getting my hopes up. Like many kids that age playing in the SHL, they don't play much of a role. Very, very little minutes. I wouldn't get caught up on his SHL numbers, theres games where he's playing under 5 minutes. I don't know if we keep our first this year but hes a guy worth keeping tabs on. Big talented 2-way center. Many lists have him somewhere in the 2nd round. Let's be honest, it's still very early.. talented centers with that frame usually don't last that long. I'll be surprised if he doesn't start climbing up the rankings.
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Loved this kid last year but Central Scouting did him dirty. Usually one of the best players on the ice.
 
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Atanasov had an awesome little one touch redirection pass to set up a goal. He still has another year left on his KHL deal. Teams are gonna be all over this guy. It wouldn't hurt for him to stay another year over there anyway. This is just his 2nd year in the KHL, his first year playing a bigger role. From everywhere I can find he's very light, he looks it. ~ 5'10, 150 LBs. He'll definitely need to bulk up. The skill level is way up there, pretty complete player, he's active defensively... just needs some more strength
 
B17 Apricots said:
Atanasov had an awesome little one touch redirection pass to set up a goal. He still has another year left on his KHL deal. Teams are gonna be all over this guy. It wouldn't hurt for him to stay another year over there anyway. This is just his 2nd year in the KHL, his first year playing a bigger role. From everywhere I can find he's very light, he looks it. ~ 5'10, 150 LBs. He'll definitely need to bulk up. The skill level is way up there, pretty complete player, he's active defensively... just needs some more strength
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Very similar to Panarin with those measurements at age 21.
 
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Amazing Kreiderman said:
The ice-surface debate is so short-sighted.

There are tons of examples of players who made the jump straight from Europe to the NHL, playing on the smaller rinks. If you're good enough, you can make the adjustment.
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So you think Kakko isn't good enough? He has not developed much if at all since drafted.
 
RangersFan1994 said:
So you think Kakko isn't good enough? He has not developed much if at all since drafted.
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Yes, I think Kakko in his draft year wasn't NHL ready despite what all the "experts" said. The Rangers completely botched the development of both Lafrenière and Kakko. And as good as Lafrenière has been this season, it's nowhere near expectations.

Re: Kakko

He was doing just fine on smaller rinks when he played for Finland at multiple levels. The rink size argument is foolish. If it really was such a bit issue, then Kopitar, Bratt, Lehkonen, Donskoi, Tarasenko, Kuznetsov, Hossa, Pettersson, Barkov, Jokinen, Hedman, Steen, Aho, Bäckström, Panarin, and so many others who made the jump right away would have struggled significantly when they first came over.

Yet none of these have ever spent time in the AHL to "adjust to smaller rinks". It's a bullshit argument.
 
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There will always be supremely talented players that can jump right from a foreign league into the NHL and see immediate success. There are however others who need a period to adjust and others who never will adjust. We can come up with countless examples of the latter two categories if we want to.

The "ice size" argument for me is really a lot more than simply adapting to the dimensions of a smaller ice surface. It's about adjusting to the pace of the game, both in terms of the physical speed of the players and the time you have to make decisions and to react. Those factors also lead to a more physical game where more effort is required to get to the spots on the ice you want to be and to maintain your position there. Again, for some guys this is no problem, for others it takes some time, and for others still, it's a deal breaker.

Kakko came over and was winded after a 30-second shift and looked like he had bricks in his skates. It's hardly a surprise that he didn't adapt well to the NHL; even if he was playing on smaller surfaces previously, it's all the other things that go along with it that made it a really tough transition for him. Lias Andersson was much the same and he has yet to demonstrate he can play fast enough (again, physically/mentally) to become an NHL regular.

Ice size on its own probably isn't enough to hold a guy back, but the other factors that result from playing on a smaller surface with oh-by-the-way the best players on the planet, for a lot of guys it requires an adjustment period.
 
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nyr2k2 said:
The "ice size" argument for me is really a lot more than simply adapting to the dimensions of a smaller ice surface. It's about adjusting to the pace of the game, both in terms of the physical speed of the players and the time you have to make decisions and to react. Those factors also lead to a more physical game where more effort is required to get to the spots on the ice you want to be and to maintain your position there. Again, for some guys this is no problem, for others it takes some time, and for others still, it's a deal breaker.
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Yes, this is a much bigger part of it. Adjusting to the different style of hockey.

European hockey is very focused on possession, wheras NA hockey on smaller rinks is more about territory, almost like football (NFL). Dumping the puck at the red line is essentially punting the ball. That doesn't happen in Europe to the same degree. You see players circling back a lot more. Buchnevich struggled with that adjustment and was benched regularly for "not dumping the puck".

The thing is: If you're good enough, none of this matters and you can make the jump right away. Kakko just wasn't good enough to make that jump at age 18 but the Rangers refused to let him play anywhere but New York.
 
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Shocker... late goal for Atanasov. Came shorthanded. The kid does everything. It's been hard for me to watch anything other than Torpedo this year 🤣 They could have more or less 5 players with NHL upside

Edit: GWG
 
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Silayev hasn't really shown much of that. If he can add that element to his game, all the better. Hell of a prospect
 
These Russian kids are going to be even more underscouted than in previous years because of the war.

If you talk to the kids and their agents and can get them to come play NCAA, Canadian junior hockey, AHL next year, you have to take gambles on some of them in rounds 3 through 7. I'm willing to wager there's going to be quite a few NHL'ers out of this year's crop that go way later than they should.

Buium made the WJC team. 25 in 18 at Denver in his draft year. Wouldn't be surprised if he goes top 10.
 
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If we're relatively healthy by the deadline I don't really see much reason for making very many deadline deals at all. Right now I think maybe a deal for a depth defenseman is about it only because I'd rather have a steadier, more experienced D than Jones in case of injury. Getting Chytil, Kakko back will probably push Brodzinski down to Hartford again (barring any other injuries to forwards) but I think he has shown enough in Laviolette's system or even Edstrom has shown enough just in the one game that I kind of feel comfortable with either of them as far as injury depth goes. As of now I don't really think it would be smart to f*** around with the chemistry on any of our lines. It's like the players up and down the lineup have accepted their roles and are all doing their jobs well. Bringing in some name for a top prospect or draft pick might well be counterproductive to that and screw up team chemistry. It's a don't fix something that isn't broken situation we're looking at today.

For me I don't see a reason at all for moving our 1st though the way it looks it's going to be towards the end of the first round. Still we need to hang on to top picks anyway.
 
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eco's bones said:
If we're relatively healthy by the deadline I don't really see much reason for making very many deadline deals at all. Right now I think maybe a deal for a depth defenseman is about it only because I'd rather have a steadier, more experienced D than Jones in case of injury. Getting Chytil, Kakko back will probably push Brodzinski down to Hartford again (barring any other injuries to forwards) but I think he has shown enough in Laviolette's system or even Edstrom has shown enough just in the one game that I kind of feel comfortable with either of them as far as injury depth goes. As of now I don't really think it would be smart to f*** around with the chemistry on any of our lines. It's like the players up and down the lineup have accepted their roles and are all doing their jobs well. Bringing in some name for a top prospect or draft pick might well be counterproductive to that and screw up team chemistry. It's a don't fix something that isn't broken situation we're looking at today.

For me I don't see a reason at all for moving our 1st though the way it looks it's going to be towards the end of the first round. Still we need to hang on to top picks anyway.
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Definitely not. Keep the 1st rounders. Need to keep that steady stream of cost controlled talent rolling through.

This is just a ridiculous year for defense. Fortunately that's where the organizational deficits are.
 
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While I agree with the idea of keeping our 1st, if we continue to play this well for another 20-30 games, that pick will be in play.
 
pld459666 said:
While I agree with the idea of keeping our 1st, if we continue to play this well for another 20-30 games, that pick will be in play.
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Anyone we would spend a 1st to acquire will likely also require cap space that we don't have. I think we will hold onto it.
 
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pld459666 said:
While I agree with the idea of keeping our 1st, if we continue to play this well for another 20-30 games, that pick will be in play.
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Honestly, with the cap, and our complete lack of space, we cant do a picks for rental trade anyway. There has to be an actual player/salary going the other way, even with retention.
 
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