Draft and UDFA Thread 2018-19: Part III

[Ranger Ric]

Here is a link to Part II of the Last Word on Sports top 40 NCAA free agents. Top 2019 College Hockey Free Agents - Part 2 - Last Word on Hockey

The most intriguing players to me for the Rangers on this list are LW Ryan Kuffner who is a bigger and more physical player who has had several big years at Princeton, RD Alec McCrea of Cornell, who has been to Rangers development camp and who the Rangers would have seen a great deal of as they track the progress of Morgan Barron and RD Brady Keeper of Maine.

 

[Lion Hound]

65 Points in 65 Games. Currently 9th worst in the league. 16% Chance of landing in the top 3. 5% Chance of winning 1st overall.

14Pts ahead of Ottawa with a game in hand. Colorado has a 49.4% chance of landing top 3. 18.5% Chance of landing 1st overall.
10Pts ahead of Detroit same amount of games played. Detroit has 38.8% chance of landing top 3. 13.5% chance of landing 1st overall.
9 Pts ahead of LA same amount of games played. LA Has 33.9% chance of landing top 3. 11.5% Chance of landing 1st overall.

17 Games to go!

 

[Joey Bones]

We need to start adding Zion Nybeck to the Swedish elite F Group for the 2020 draft, he's pretty sick.

Absof***inglutely!!

 

[Joey Bones]

Here is a link to Part II of the Last Word on Sports top 40 NCAA free agents. Top 2019 College Hockey Free Agents - Part 2 - Last Word on Hockey

The most intriguing players to me for the Rangers on this list are LW Ryan Kuffner who is a bigger and more physical player who has had several big years at Princeton, RD Alec McCrea of Cornell, who has been to Rangers development camp and who the Rangers would have seen a great deal of as they track the progress of Morgan Barron and RD Brady Keeper of Maine.

Wow!! Forgot about Malmquist. He'd be a real nice pickup!!

 

[Joey Bones]

65 Points in 65 Games. Currently 9th worst in the league. 16% Chance of landing in the top 3. 5% Chance of winning 1st overall.

14Pts ahead of Ottawa with a game in hand. Colorado has a 49.4% chance of landing top 3. 18.5% Chance of landing 1st overall.
10Pts ahead of Detroit same amount of games played. Detroit has 38.8% chance of landing top 3. 13.5% chance of landing 1st overall.
9 Pts ahead of LA same amount of games played. LA Has 33.9% chance of landing top 3. 11.5% Chance of landing 1st overall.

17 Games to go!

Joint effort here. Need some of those other bottom feeders to win more games!!

 

[cwede]

Here is a link to Part II of the Last Word on Sports top 40 NCAA free agents. Top 2019 College Hockey Free Agents - Part 2 - Last Word on Hockey

Relatedly, Booba is a great guy to follow regarding NCAA "drafted but rights-expiring in August" guys' status

NCAA Prospects

August 15 deadline

Anaheim
F - Brent Gates|University of Minnesota|2015|#80

Buffalo
F - Christopher Brown|Boston College|2014|#151
D - Ivan Chukarov*|UMass(Amherst)|2015|#182 (Signed by Worcester, ECHL)
D - Casey Fitzgerald|Boston College|2016|#86
F - Max Willman|Brown|2014|#121

Chicago
F - Liam Coughlin|Vermont|2014|#130
F - Fredrik Olofsson|Nebraska-Omaha|2014|#98
F - Jack Ramsey|University of Minnesota|2014|#208
F - Beau Starrett|Cornell|2014|#88

Dallas
D - Joseph Ceccioni|University of Michigan|2015|#133
F - Rhett Gardner|North Dakota|2016|#116

Detroit
G - Chase Perry|RPI|2014|#136

Edmonton
D - Vincent Desharnais|Providence|2016|#183
F - Joey Dudek|Boston College|2014|#152
G - Hayden Hawkey|Providence|2014|#177

Florida
F - Joe Wegwerth|Notre Dame|2014|#92

Minnesota
D - Nicholas Boka|University of Michigan|2015|#171
D - Jack Sadek|University of Minnesota|2015|#204

Montreal
D - Nikolas Koberstein|Alaska-Fairbanks|2014|#125

Nashville
F - Thomas Novak|University of Minnesota|2015|#85
D - Adam Smith|Bowling Green|2016|#198

Ottawa
D - Miles Gendron|Connecticut|2014|#70

Philadelphia
F - Brendan Warren|University of Michigan|2015|#81

San Jose
F - Jacob Jackson|Michigan Tech|2013|#201
G - Jake Kupsky|Union|2015|#193
F - Marcus Vela|New Hampshire|2015|#190

Toronto
F - Dakota Joshua|Ohio State|2014|#128

Washington
D - Chase Priskie|Quinnipiac|2016|#177
F - Steven Spinner|Nebraska-Omaha|2014|#159

Chukarov forfeited his NCAA eligibility in February to sign with the Worcester Railers. Despite leaving college before the end of his 4th year, he'll remain a Sabres' prospect until August 15 according to the CBA.

If a Player drafted at age 18 or 19 is a bona fide college student at the time of his selection in the Entry Draft, or becomes a bona fide college student prior to the first June 1 following his selection in the Entry Draft, and does not remain a bona fide college student through the graduation of his college class, his drafting Club shall retain exclusive rights for the negotiation of his services until the later of: (a) the fourth June 1 following his selection in the Entry Draft, or (b) thirty (30) days after NHL Central Registry receives notice that the Player is no longer a bona fide college student; provided that if the Player ceases to be a bona fide college student on or after January 1 of an academic year and the Player: (1) is in his fourth year of college and has commenced his fourth year of NCAA eligibility, or (2) is in his fourth year of college and is scheduled to 19 ARTICLE 8 8.6-8.6 graduate from college at the end of his fourth year, then in the circumstances described in (1) or (2), the Club shall retain the exclusive right of negotiation for such Player's services through and including the August 15 following the date on which he ceases to be a bona fide college student.

 

[Joey Bones]

Might as well bring him in the thread then. What's the word, @Booba ?

 

[cwede]

Might as well bring him in the thread then. What's the word, @Booba ?

the Chukarov signing in Booba's chart caught my eye
Kid left one of the best NCAA teams for a AHL deal:
Railers: Defenseman Ivan Chukarov gains playing time after leaving UMass

i haven't looked at the Sabres board yet, but boy, if a NYR prospect did this,
i can imagine hundreds of posts second-guessing and name-calling

not only walking away from a potential title run, but as the entrenched, Senior 7th D, just an injury or suspension away from regular ice-time in the tournaments

 

[bmoak]

The Worcester Railers are an ECHL team, though.

 

[Ranger Ric]

Here is the link to Part III of the Last Word on Sport top 40 NCAA free agents. Top 2019 College Hockey Free Agents - Part 3 - Last Word on Hockey Shout out to Joey B for identifying many of these players on the list of free agents he developed on I think page 18 of this thread.

Quinnipiac RD Brogan Rafferty participated in Rangers development camp last year. Jimmie Schuldt turned down an opportunity to turn pro last year to finish his college career at St. Cloud. Five of the ten players on this portion of the list are LD. I have a hard time believing that with the log jam in the organization at LD and the lack of RD that the Rangers would use one of their limited 50 contract spots on another LD but I have been wrong before.

Here is a link to Part II of the Last Word on Sports top 40 NCAA free agents. Top 2019 College Hockey Free Agents - Part 2 - Last Word on Hockey

The most intriguing players to me for the Rangers on this list are LW Ryan Kuffner who is a bigger and more physical player who has had several big years at Princeton, RD Alec McCrea of Cornell, who has been to Rangers development camp and who the Rangers would have seen a great deal of as they track the progress of Morgan Barron and RD Brady Keeper of Maine.

 

[EdJovanovski]

If we draft around 8/9 my target would be Turcotte

 

[Edge]

If we draft around 8/9 my target would be Turcotte

I'm really curious as to how the Rangers view the North American Centers --- whether they have them clustered close, or with gaps present, to say nothing about what order they have them.

Turcotte, in many ways, just feels like a Rangers pick. I'm also curious to see what his vitals check-in at during the combine. There is chit chat that he's eclipsed the 6'0 mark at this point, but I haven't seen anything confirmed.

 

[Trxjw]

I'm really curious as to how the Rangers view the North American Centers --- whether they have them clustered close, or with gaps present, to say nothing about what order they have them.

Turcotte, in many ways, just feels like a Rangers pick. I'm also curious to see what his vitals check-in at during the combine. There is chit chat that he's eclipsed the 6'0 mark at this point, but I haven't seen anything confirmed.

Agreed, but you and I also felt like they would dip into the USNTDP last year at the top and they went to Russia instead. I find more and more that my picture of a "Rangers pick" is being blurred, and that's not necessarily a bad thing by any stretch.

 

[Edge]

Agreed, but you and I also felt like they would dip into the USNTDP last year at the top and they went to Russia instead. I find more and more that my picture of a "Rangers pick" is being blurred, and that's not necessarily a bad thing by any stretch.

That's very true.

For all the talk about trying to come up with a profile for how the Rangers draft, it often doesn't withstand any intense scrutiny.

 

[True Blue]

If we draft around 8/9 my target would be Turcotte

At that point, I would take Turcotte but only if Boldy was not available.

 

[Ghost of jas]

Agreed, but you and I also felt like they would dip into the USNTDP last year at the top and they went to Russia instead. I find more and more that my picture of a "Rangers pick" is being blurred, and that's not necessarily a bad thing by any stretch.

Yeah, I’m not necessarily as tuned into what denotes a ‘Rangers’ pick’ anymore. My only hope is that the one trait they continue to pursue is high end talent, which would be the one common characteristic the past few first rounds appear to have been targeted.

 

[Trxjw]

That's very true.

For all the talk about trying to come up with a profile for how the Rangers draft, it often doesn't withstand any intense scrutiny.

That's partially why I think the people who have been ultra critical of this team's drafting over the last few years need to take a step back. Granted I think we're a team that drafts well but there's definitely a change in the way this team is approaching things under a rebuild and with more picks at their disposal.

 

[Trxjw]

Yeah, I’m not necessarily as tuned into what denotes a ‘Rangers’ pick’ anymore. My only hope is that the one trait they continue to pursue is high end talent, which would be the one common characteristic the past few first rounds appear to have been targeted.

Agreed and I think they're leaning that way. I've been saying that these "underwhelming" deadline deals they make are so underrated because they lay the foundation for taking risks at the draft table. You feel way more confident trading up for Miller when you have Hajek and Lindgren in the mix. High talent in Chytil when you just took Andersson. No need to spend a pick on a pest when you acquired Lemieux.

I'm expecting a few big swings this June because you can see that foundation really starting to take shape and some kids are probably taking bigger steps forward than expected.

 

[Ghost of jas]

Agreed and I think they're leaning that way. I've been saying that these "underwhelming" deadline deals they make are so underrated because they lay the foundation for taking risks at the draft table. You feel way more confident trading up for Miller when you have Hajek and Lindgren in the mix. High talent in Chytil when you just took Andersson. No need to spend a pick on a pest when you acquired Lemieux.

I'm expecting a few big swings this June because you can see that foundation really starting to take shape and some kids are probably taking bigger steps forward than expected.

Yup, which is why the return of the McDonagh deal perfectly fits Gorton’s approach. It was obvious at last year’s deadline, and it remains so at this one. But, I’m also someone who believes Zuccarello is re-signing in Dallas, and Gorton identified them specifically as a team that could fulfill the conditions for next year’s 1st.

 

[BroadwayStorm]

We really need to lose a shitload of games in a row. Holy shit. We NEED to.

 

[Edge]

This team will slide into that 6th spot, only to have Colorado win the lottery and walk away with the first two picks in the draft.

And magically, they still won't be able to find any talent outside of the top 10.

 

[I Eat Crow]

This team will slide into that 6th spot, only to have Colorado win the lottery and walk away with the first two picks in the draft.

And magically, they still won't be able to find any talent outside of the top 10.

Ah yes, Edmonton Oilers Syndrome.

Colorado still won't do much without competent defense and goaltending.

 

[Bluenote13]

This team will slide into that 6th spot, only to have Colorado win the lottery and walk away with the first two picks in the draft.

And magically, they still won't be able to find any talent outside of the top 10.

I wonder if they make both of those picks if they had them? Trade down from #2 for a player/prospect?

 

[Edge]

I wonder if they make both of those picks if they had them? Trade down from #2 for a player/prospect?

Intriguing, but can you imagine coming away with Hughes and Kakko?

I don't really know who you'd take for that second pick, or if the values line up.

Let's say you're the Rangers, who do you offer? And let's say you're the Avs, what do you want?

If I'm the latter, am I asking for the Rangers pick and Chytil or Miller?

 

[I Eat Crow]

I wonder if they make both of those picks if they had them? Trade down from #2 for a player/prospect?

Hypothetically, if I were in their shoes, I'd trade down to 5 or 6 where Byram would be available and get another blue chipper, or I would trade the #2 overall outright for an absolute ransom. The #2 overall would easily net an established top 4 defenseman on a great contract, a blue chipper between 18-20 years old, and a lower 1st rounder.

Say...back to Ottawa for Brannstrom, Ceci, and Columbus' 2019 1st? Or....to Carolina for Slavin, Fox, and Carolina's 2019 1st? Just hypothetical...