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Breakout Player / Pleasant Surprise for 2013

Hagelin. I think he's going to take a big step forward.

I also think Haley might be able to pull a Prust and really find a place and fill a role on this team.
 
Seems like the fans are kind of giving up on kreider. i think he AHL stats have been an overreaction. i think playing a full year with guys like stepan hagelin nash and richards will make kreider a pretty effective player
 
Rangerfans said:
I actually think Michael Haley is going to be our new Prusty.

Bold. lol
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pretty much the same player prust was when we got him...prust played about a 1/4 season after the trade and was nothing special, then torts worked his magic. be awesome if he could do the same with haley
 
I'm going with Hagelin as the breakout payer as well. I think some may already think he overachieved. I'm going the opposite. Speed, work ethic, responsibility makes him a perfect linemate to compliment one of the top lines. How bout this...at the 20 game mark Hageline leads the rangers in points.


Player I'm pulling for to make the team is Haley. I hated him with the Isles, which means I'll probably love him in the Rangers. Sparkplug, fan favorite is given the chance.
 
I probably like Haley better than Asham, maybe Rupp. I just don't like having old plugs on our fourth line. Plugs are fine, but give me the new NHL version of a plug, which is basically Prust, but maybe not quite as good. For the purposes of this thread, we'll call Prust the ideal plug; the king of plugs. He's what your fourth line grinding plug aspires to be. Give me some of those on the fourth line; the new blood who might be a plug but skates and handles the puck a bit better (because, honestly, if the ceiling of talent in the NHL hasn't risen since the old days, the floor has certainly caught up quite a ways TO the ceiling). I don't like plodding, slow Rupps, even though he's a great character guy and not the worst player we could have there. It's not that I mind Rupp at all, but I just would rather have younger guys who play the new version of fourth line grinder rather than old guys making 1M+ for NO reason. And I still think McDonagh surprises everyone with his offense this year. If it was 82 games, he'd break 40 points by a fair bit.
 
Haley's had 15 fights already this year which is too much for the situation he's in. Part of the problem is until McIlrath came back--Haley was it for the Whale so he's been fighting guys relatively his own size and fighting the heavier weights too.

I think he can turn out somewhat like Prust but as of now he's got some ways to go. Prust was able to be somewhat of a scoring threat and useful defensively and on the penalty kill. I don't think Haley is quite at the same level in those areas.
 
mschmidt64 said:
That's what I thought, but he keeps being referred to as a winger in some reports.

I feel like I'd rather him play center for us.

Hagelin - Richards - Gaborik
Nash - Stepan - Callahan
Kreider - Miller - Pyatt
Asham - Boyle - Rupp/Haley

Seems better to be than with Boyle on the third line and Halpern on the fourth.
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Rangers drafted him as a center. Clark and Gorton saw him that way.

The whole winger thing came about because Plymouth used him on the wing a lot. Not at all where North Dakota would have probably used him.

He IS a center. A play making, intelligent, two way center. Been saying the same thing about him since before he was drafted. The only question would be can he win enough face offs.
 
i think stralman continues his play from the end of the last year and establishes himself as a top 4 defensemen
 
Stepan, Stralman, Nash, Miller.

Miller has been on an accelerated development path. That was both his and the Rangers plans for him since the draft. I said he'd be a 1-2 year player and had some conflict about it. That was his development path from the start. It had been stated as so by the organization. He let it be known prior to the draft he wanted to sign his ELC asap. And he would forego North Dakota and play for Plymouth.

1 year Junior/NCAA and maybe one full year AHL. That was the plan. He's on and maybe ahead of the curve. One year in Plymouth. Possibly less than a year in the AHL.

Stralman's last full season in the NHL he scored 30+ points.. in Columbus. He's an underrated player with the potential to break out. He's entering his prime years. He gained Tortorella's trust. He plays the right side. There's a lot of ice time to be had for him. Top four minutes, with guys like Nash, Gaborik, and Richards to feed the puck to and be fed from. He can rack up a solid amount of points. Really boost his value to the organization.

Stepan. He's a star in the making as it is. But he will be able to play a full year with one of Nash or Gaborik. He had a high level of success with Gaborik last year. Gaborik played arguably his best hockey last year with Stepan. Stepan playing with a scoring winger, he can play his natural game. Use his vision and passing.

Nash might become more dominant now that he has a real supporting cast around him.
 
Stralman (0.5 ppg), Staal (not in points though, rather clutch scoring) and Boyle (8g - 11a). Hrivik earns a spot at 3rd line, scoring about 5 goals and 7 assists. Kreider pots 10 to 15 goals (= pleasant surprise for his effing 1st year in the NHL. He's not gonna come here and be the next Jesus.)
 
I think Stepan ends up with at least 40 points. Shortened season should help him. Last season he had 31 points in first 48 games and that was after piss poor October.
 
eco's bones said:
Haley's had 15 fights already this year which is too much for the situation he's in. Part of the problem is until McIlrath came back--Haley was it for the Whale so he's been fighting guys relatively his own size and fighting the heavier weights too.

I think he can turn out somewhat like Prust but as of now he's got some ways to go. Prust was able to be somewhat of a scoring threat and useful defensively and on the penalty kill. I don't think Haley is quite at the same level in those areas.
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I think Haley has decent hands and skates relatively well. Prust was a good skater which was a very underrated part of his game. I would be surprised if Haley doesn't win a spot early this season. He plays a hard-nosed game and is relatively responsible all over the ice. Not sure how the Islanders didn't just let him play in the NHL with their team the last couple of years. Thank God, I wouldn't have wanted him in the division elsewhere.
 
Surprised Del Zotto hasn't been mentioned here more. I feel like he is really going to take strides both offensively and defensively.
 
NYR Boyler87 said:
I think Haley has decent hands and skates relatively well. Prust was a good skater which was a very underrated part of his game. I would be surprised if Haley doesn't win a spot early this season. He plays a hard-nosed game and is relatively responsible all over the ice. Not sure how the Islanders didn't just let him play in the NHL with their team the last couple of years. Thank God, I wouldn't have wanted him in the division elsewhere.
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I like the way Haley plays--just don't see him becoming as good a player as Prust became. That doesn't mean he won't get to play for the Rangers. He seems to be getting banged up a bit this year--some of his fights he's been overmatched. He's really not that big of a guy and when he goes against real goons with size he has some problems. Very tough player but he doesn't exactly fit the profile of what a goon is. PJ Stock comes to mind.
 
Breakout - Derek Stepan, he's ready to make the next step.
2010-11: 0.26 G/G, 0.29 A/G
2011-12: 0.21 G/G, 0.42 A/G
2012-13: 0.25 G/G, 0.67 A/G

works itself out to 12g, 32a, 44pts in 48 games. I think throughout his prime years, Stepan is going to be about a 70-75 pt player... with a peak year where he hits 85-90.

Surprise - you will be pleasantly surprised with Pyatt on the 3rd line. Something like 10g, 15a, 25pts and providing some offense and grit in the Bottom 6.
 
SouthJerseyRanger said:
Breakout - Derek Stepan, he's ready to make the next step.
2010-11: 0.26 G/G, 0.29 A/G
2011-12: 0.21 G/G, 0.42 A/G
2012-13: 0.25 G/G, 0.67 A/G

works itself out to 12g, 32a, 44pts in 48 games. I think throughout his prime years, Stepan is going to be about a 70-75 pt player... with a peak year where he hits 85-90.

Surprise - you will be pleasantly surprised with Pyatt on the 3rd line. Something like 10g, 15a, 25pts and providing some offense and grit in the Bottom 6.
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85-90 is really high.
 
SupersonicMonkey said:
Nash might become more dominant now that he has a real supporting cast around him.
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I'd say it's a 50/50 on Nash being able to use the better team to his advantage SiGNIFICANTLY. He will be better playing with more pep in his step and a bit by not being the only man who contributes consistently but there are always ways for a player to stay around his mark as opposed to take the **** off because of a more talented team.
 
Stralman - made improvements defensively in a system that was not fit for him. Building on that, if he can secure himself some PP time, being a strong RH shot, it will increase his stats, as well as the PP effectiveness.

Haley - Could be the new Avery/Prust, BUT needs to make sure he keeps his head on straight or Tortorella won't give him another chance. He is coming to the Rangers in a very similar fashion as Prust, and could emulate Prust's effectiveness in this system. Plus, this guy is so much faster than Prust, and has better (slightly) hands, too.
 
Pyatt is gonna be the guy who the casual fan won't even know about until Saturday who surprises people. I think he's gonna score some points (not a lot, maybe 10-15 in the short season) but play a really good hard-nosed style of hockey that makes him a fan favorite quick. One of those guys you really appreciate after watching every night.

As far as a darkhorse type, I think Hrivik is a good choice. Could very well be JT Miller or Kyle Jean too, I think. Jean was on fire at the beginning of the season before he started slumping recently
 
I have an eye on Hrivik, but I think his impact comes next year as a mid-season callup and that's being optimistic. Taylor Pyatt is the guy I can see coming up big in a big way, especially during the playoffs. I think if the Rangers bring-up Miller and put him with Kreider and Pyatt you could see a solid line.
 
petejudge said:
Jean was on fire at the beginning of the season before he started slumping recently
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It's tough to take this year's Hartford team as a measuring stick of development, cause from what I understand the whole team has been playing pretty poorly. I think a lot of that stems from a lack of depth on defense which the Rangers are pretty shallow at prospect-wise, especially in the AHL.
 
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