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Rangers Prospect Ranking: (Winter 2019) - #7

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#7 Prospect

  • Total voters
    74
  • Poll closed .
McRanger said:
Hajek had 39 points in 58 games as a 19 year old in the WHL, which put him Near the top 20 for D-men in PPG. He also had 8 points in 7 games in the WJC.

I figured watching the opposite career arcs of Ryan McDonagh and Brendan Smith would have taught us minor league numbers mean less than skill level and work ethic.
Click to expand...

When McDonagh was a teenager, he produced against the other teenagers.

Assist per game player in high school.
 
It`s close between Nils & Libor and I voted Libor for #7th and I believe he will play NHL for us as early as next season, and maybe he get some NHL games end of this season.
 
Machinehead said:
When McDonagh was a teenager, he produced against the other teenagers.

Assist per game player in high school.
Click to expand...

Against high schoolers. That’s like the least impressive thing.

There was a dude on McD’s team who scored almost double McDs points and played his college hockey at Canisius and now works in commercial real estate.

McD never put up points until he was in the NHL.
 
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McRanger said:
Against high schoolers. That’s like the least impressive thing.

There was a dude on McD’s team who scored almost double McDs points and played his college hockey at Canisius and now works in commercial real estate.

McD never put up points until he was in the NHL.
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And u16 hockey in Europe is significantly more impressive than high school?
 
Machinehead said:
And u16 hockey in Europe is significantly more impressive than high school?
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I know as much about CZE under 16 hockey as you do which is to say I don’t know anything.

But I know putting up 1 or 2 PPG in HS is significantly less impressive than putting up .33 PPG in the WHL. Which what they both did their draft year.

I also know putting up 39 points in 58 games in the WHL with 8 points in 7 games at the u20 is more impressive than putting up 16 points in 36 games in the NCAA with 3 points in 6 games at the u20. Which is what they both did at age 19.
 
Here’s the breakdown on Hajek’s scoring relative to his team and where his team fit into the WHL in those seasons:

2015-16 Draft season
26 points in 69 games
Tied-1st for defensemen scoring on the Blades
Tied-7th got points team wide
5 players that season scored over 40 points

Team was the 3rd worst in the WHL
6th lowest GF in the WHL with 219 GF
Missed the playoffs

2016-17 D+1
26 points in 66 games
2nd in defensemen scoring (1st had 32p in 72g)
8th in team scoring (7th had 27, 6th had 30, 5th had 31)
2 players had over 40 points

5th worst team in the WHL
3rd worst GF (190)
Missed the playoffs

17-18 D+2
Before he was traded he had 25 points in 33 games
2nd in D scoring while playing 37 less games than the leader who had 1 more point than Hajek
9th in team scoring
5 players scored over 40 points

7th worst in the league
8th worst GF (237)
Missed the playoffs

His numbers aren’t bad for a defenseman who’s a defense first two way sort of defenseman on what was a horrible team while he was there. And now he’s in the AHL playing the safe man to Gilmour on a team that historically has their legitimate defensive prospects focus on the p’s and q’s of their defensive play. 3 points this year is definitely not great, you won’t get an argument from me on that, but from the games I’ve seen, he hasn’t looked like the offensive void his numbers make him look like. And again, he’s never been some flashy offensive dynamo, his points come from simple passes to players in good positions or from shots where the rebounds get put in, it’s never been his game to deke or fake out someone behind his own net and go end to end and set up a tap in.
 
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GeorgeKaplan said:
Here’s the breakdown on Hajek’s scoring relative to his team and where his team fit into the WHL in those seasons:

2015-16 Draft season
26 points in 69 games
Tied-1st for defensemen scoring on the Blades
Tied-7th got points team wide
5 players that season scored over 40 points

Team was the 3rd worst in the WHL
6th lowest GF in the WHL with 219 GF
Missed the playoffs

2016-17 D+1
26 points in 66 games
2nd in defensemen scoring (1st had 32p in 72g)
8th in team scoring (7th had 27, 6th had 30, 5th had 31)
2 players had over 40 points

5th worst team in the WHL
3rd worst GF (190)
Missed the playoffs

17-18 D+2
Before he was traded he had 25 points in 33 games
2nd in D scoring while playing 37 less games than the leader who had 1 more point than Hajek
9th in team scoring
5 players scored over 40 points

7th worst in the league
8th worst GF (237)
Missed the playoffs

His numbers aren’t bad for a defenseman who’s a defense first two way sort of defenseman on what was a horrible team while he was there. And now he’s in the AHL playing the safe man to Gilmour on a team that historically has their legitimate defensive prospects focus on the p’s and q’s of their defensive play. 3 points this year is definitely not great, you won’t get an argument from me on that, but from the games I’ve seen, he hasn’t looked like the offensive void his numbers make him look like. And again, he’s never been some flashy offensive dynamo, his points come from simple passes to players in good positions or from shots where the rebounds get put in, it’s never been his game to deke or fake out someone behind his own net and go end to end and set up a tap in.
Click to expand...
Perhaps I've underrated his Junior production.

I just get concerned whenever the Rangers approach that line between "defensive player" and "this guy has no skill." We don't know yet which side he'll fall on, although he seems to generally be be well-liked.
 
Machinehead said:
Perhaps I've underrated his Junior production.

I just get concerned whenever the Rangers approach that line between "defensive player" and "this guy has no skill." We don't know yet which side he'll fall on, although he seems to generally be be well-liked.
Click to expand...
I definitely understand the apprehension, it feels like the Rangers have more than a few prospects where context plays a bigger part in looking at their numbers. Before we traded for him I knew the Blades were a terrible team, then watching him more closely on the Pats run in the playoffs/Memorial Cup I was a little frustrated that he was their go-to defense guy instead of getting the prime offensive opportunities, and then even watching the few Hartford games I’ve seen this year I think he’s looked more unlucky than some sort of offensive black hole
 
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eco's bones said:
Well I have Lundkvist ahead of Hajek too but that said I think Lundkvist would be having a very tough time if he were in Hartford. The rinks are smaller and his size would be factoring against him. He's in the league he needs to be in that gives him time to fill out and get stronger. Hajek doesn't have that problem and he's the next on my list and he's also closer to the NHL than Lundkvist is right now.
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Crawley is closer to the NHL than Lundkvist. Does that mean he’s a better prospect?
 
Machinehead said:
Perhaps I've underrated his Junior production.

I just get concerned whenever the Rangers approach that line between "defensive player" and "this guy has no skill." We don't know yet which side he'll fall on, although he seems to generally be be well-liked.
Click to expand...
Generally well-liked? This board thinks he’s the second coming of McDonagh lmao
 
The Crypto Guy said:
Maybe, but I feel the same about Hajeks defense compared to Lundqvist's at this time(though obviously to be fair like you said Lundqvist 2 years younger)

I have them close to each other but gave Hajek the nod because he is more NHL ready right now and I think they both have close to the same ceiling.
Click to expand...
How is being more NHL-ready make you a better prospect? Meskanen is more NHL-ready than Hajek and Lundkvist, but he’s never going to touch the top 10-15 on our prospect list. And never mind that. Hajek is not even close to NHL-ready. He’s producing very poor offensive numbers, and from the few games I’ve watched, it’s not due to bad luck, in my opinion.
 
Buchnevich89 said:
Crawley is closer to the NHL than Lundkvist. Does that mean he’s a better prspect?
Click to expand...

Actually I wouldn't say Crawley is closer to the NHL than Lundqvist. I would put both of them a couple years away from the NHL but Lundkvist's ceiling is quite a bit higher. Being in Hartford does help a player but it's not the only or even primary thing I would look at when valuing players. IMO K'andre is our best D prospect and he may be a couple years away as well and he's only taken in the 18 draft a few spots ahead of Lundkvist.

Lindgren is a very good prospect in my eyes but it should be kept in mind that he gets this opportunity because he's available to the Rangers for it and unsigned players are not. Crawley has a lot more work to do in my eyes and I would rank him after Bigras, O'Gara, Gilmour and Hajek.
 
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