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Rangers Prospect Poll (Summer 2018): #5 Prospect

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#5

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    120
  • Poll closed .
It's Pionk for me, although it was very close with Howden and Hajek.

The big thing is that I'm not sure that Hajek or Howden's upside (as a #2 D or C to me) is that much higher than Pionk and Pionk is already in the NHL and is more of a sure thing.

A couple things that sell me on Pionk's upside:

- He scored 0.5 ppg in the NHL this year. That's comparable to Dougie Hamilton, OEL, Werenski, Ekblad, etc. It's a small sample, but he scored almost a PPG in the college too and he makes some really high end plays that show off a lot of skill, so I think there is cause to believe in his offensive potential:



On Letang:


I couldn't find the video, but the play where he flipped the puck to himself and rushed through the entire caps team to create a scoring chance stood out too

- I thought he looked solid defensively against the other team's top forwards. In particular, he stopped Ovechkin several times in that Caps game.

- He did well on the US WC team that won Bronze against top NHL players.

In a nutshell, I think Pionk might have more offensive upside than Hajek and still has the potential to be a sound defenseman against high-caliber NHL players, plus he is already in the NHL and has less development / adjustment risk than Hajek.

I would add Rykov. I think he should be in the discussion the Hajek / Howden for the next spot on the poll and would certainly vote for him over Lindgren, who is already included in the poll.
 
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Howden add Rykov

It's crazy that we are one elite prospect away from having the best prospect pool in the league. We definitely have the most/best depth in the 5-10 range, though.
 
The crazy thing for me this round is that Howden wasn't even a difficult choice.

He's always been viewed as a better prospect than Hajek, and he has performed at every level with a game that should be very easily translated.

When we traded for them both, Hajek got considerably more lip service from management; and he is a damn good prospect, but I feel like we're all sleeping on Howden and have somehow compartmentalized him as an add-on in a trade where he was the primary piece.
 
Harbour Dog said:
The crazy thing for me this round is that Howden wasn't even a difficult choice.

He's always been viewed as a better prospect than Hajek, and he has performed at every level with a game that should be very easily translated.

When we traded for them both, Hajek got considerably more lip service from management; and he is a damn good prospect, but I feel like we're all sleeping on Howden and have somehow compartmentalized him as an add-on in a trade where he was the primary piece.
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I like Howden, but I see good 3C/low end 2C potential. I don't see a sure fire 2C.
 
Harbour Dog said:
The crazy thing for me this round is that Howden wasn't even a difficult choice.

He's always been viewed as a better prospect than Hajek, and he has performed at every level with a game that should be very easily translated.

When we traded for them both, Hajek got considerably more lip service from management; and he is a damn good prospect, but I feel like we're all sleeping on Howden and have somehow compartmentalized him as an add-on in a trade where he was the primary piece.
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If we had gotten Howden and Hajek at last year’s trade-deadline, the debate would have been which one is the team’s #2 or #3 prospect, now they’re in the range of 5-8 and there are solid arguments for different pieces deserving higher spots. Even TampA Bay considered them to be two of their top-tier prospects, and they’ve consistently had a deep pool.
 
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RangerSeth said:
I like Howden, but I see good 3C/low end 2C potential. I don't see a sure fire 2C.
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I see him in a similar vein. Perhaps I just value it more than most.

Howden's game screams middle six C that positively contributes all over the ice. He promises to be the prototypical matchup centre who can put up points while shutting down opposing top lines.

Does Hajek have a little more high-end potential? Maybe, but it isn't a night and day comparison, and his chances of being an effective top 4 D are much less than Howden's of being similarly effective as a middle sixer.
 
Harbour Dog said:
I see him in a similar vein. Perhaps I just value it more than most.

Howden's game screams middle six C that positively contributes all over the ice. He promises to be the prototypical matchup centre who can put up points while shutting down opposing top lines.

Does Hajek have a little more high-end potential? Maybe, but it isn't a night and day comparison, and his chances of being an effective top 4 D are much less than Howden's of being similarly effective as a middle sixer.
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It really could have gone either way for me - picked Hajek but I could have just as easily picked Howden. What I don't get is why Pionk is getting so many votes to go this high.
 
NYR1967 said:
It really could have gone either way for me - picked Hajek but I could have just as easily picked Howden. What I don't get is why Pionk is getting so many votes to go this high.
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Me either.

I'm just going to choose to ignore it though; I feel like any debate around Pionk is going to end up as bogged down and polarized as the advanced stats clashes used to be.
 
Went with Howden mainly because I think he's a guy you win with and has a higher offensive ceiling than a lot of people realize.

But I could probably make a sound argument for several guys on the list.

Hajek is very promising, though I may not be quite as sold on his upside as others.

Miller has the athleticism, but has more moving parts at this point and is further out.

Pionk lacks the "pedigree" but looks like a very smart player. Still not sure he's not more of a third pairing guy on a top-level team, but he looked like belonged last season.
 
Lion Hound said:
Hope you guys are right about Hajek. Im reserved on this one so far.
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I'm somewhat in that same boat.

I like him and see the potential.

I also see more of a raw side than most have commented on and some holes as well. There's this feeling that he's closer to the NHL and yet I can't help but feel this one might need a bit more time.
 
Thes lists are just snapshots. In three months, Hajek and Howden could both be in the NHL, or they could be in Hartford. Both players have higher upsides than Pionk, IMO, but Pionk is much more likely to earn a spot in October. More than likely, both become better players than Pionk., but right, they aren’t there yet, at least to me. Again, it’s not just upside to me. It’s also where a player is in his development and how likely it is a player will reach that potential.
 
NYR1967 said:
It really could have gone either way for me - picked Hajek but I could have just as easily picked Howden. What I don't get is why Pionk is getting so many votes to go this high.
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I tried to lay out my rationale for voting for Pionk as best as I could. Particularly why I see upside with him. I'd be curious why others aren't as high on him if you guys don't mind sharing your thoughts.
 
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Gardner McKay said:
He has put up 14 points in 28 games. That is 14 more than most of the guys on this list will ever get.
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Boo put up some points in the NHL but i wouldn't have him anywhere near the top 10.

Poink is good, don't get me wrong, but at 5 I think it's a stretch.
 
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