Rate 1st Draft day

[GeorgeKaplan]

Why because I am not a fanboy koolaid drinker? There is NO WAY this current NYR group has a clue. Let's see some success maybe? We are looking at a Knicks-like muti-decade long crap rebuilding process now that Dolan has his grubby paws all over it. These guys couldn't manage a ***** in a strip club. I have zero confidence that these dorks wouldve picked Dahilin with the number one pick.

We are going to be Buffalo-type bad for a while.

It’s pretty clear you have no idea what you’re talking about, and you’re just mad the Rangers didn’t pick the guy you wanted

 

[eco's bones]

1. we fail to trade away any of our players
2. We take a reach and a Russian factor at#9 instead of trading down to get him
3. We grossly overpay to trade up from #26 to #22
4. we take a player at 22 who very likely have been available at #26
5. we take an undersized soft Swedish Dman at #28 instead of going with a legit power forward like Noel

This is a solid D-

1. You make trades when you get the right value. If you don't get the value you want you don't make the trades. Never force trades.

2. To me the Rangers should have been on Dobson at 9. I think he has a chance of being a legit #1 D. Between Kravtsov and Wahlstrom I would have gone with Wahlstrom but they ain't that far apart IMO. It's hard really to gauge that IMO when looking at the competition each of these two guys faced. Wahlstrom's got the gaudy numbers but Kravtsov played much harder competition and his play in the KHL playoffs was pretty spectacular.

3. Not really. Teams know what the Rangers have. The Rangers wanted Miller and moved up to get him. I'm okay with that.

4. Maybe. Maybe not.

5. Lundkvist ended up in the SHL. That's a serious f***ing hockey league. There are lots of undersized defensemen in the NHL. So many any more that there's almost no point calling d-men undersized anymore. Anyway when we got to 28 there was a wide varitey of options and Lundkvist certainly was one of them. He wasn't a reach IMO.

Anyway I gave the draft so far a B-. I think we could have done better particularly with the 9 but Kravtsov is only a bit of reach---not an awful pick like Arizona did with Hayton. Miller is an intriguing player. He has a size, skating, physical and athletic dimensions. He is a bit raw but not quite as raw as Chris Kreider was when we drafted him. Lundkvist fits in probably as a 2nd pairing puck moving D who will bring some offense. The big one to watch will be Kravtsov. If the Rangers are right on him with their Kuznetsov comparison then we've got a stud.

 

[NernieBichols]

You guys realize this thread was most likely started by a user who was so upset last night and so many posters asked to go away for the night That he turned to his burner acct and started a new thread to disguise himself.

 

[ponytrekker]

It’s pretty clear you have no idea what you’re talking about, and you’re just mad the Rangers didn’t pick the guy you wanted

The two-thirds of the people who walked out of the theater after Lou Lamoriello picked BOTH of the clear picks seem to agree with me so whatever. But I defer to the Rangers' demonstrated success with first round picks.

 

[NernieBichols]

Team AGAIN says to the world “We are smarter than everyone!!!” Shakes fist in the air

I say Grade of FFFFFFF just because nothing has changed.

I’m no expert but it’s the crass that I grade... the hubris.

“We are NY and we know better!”

As the MCIlrath Jessimans stand to solute

Maybe a little drunk and pissed but it is what it ALWAYS is

Some many posters were angry drunk posting last night. You weren’t the only one. It’s obvious who was

 

[NernieBichols]

D- because we let the consensus picks go to our cross-town rival BOTH. With, oh a NEW Stanley Cup-willing GM and a new Stanley Cup-winning coach. I love all the typical "This will work out fine" thinking.

You heard it here first. Miller is the only guy who will play in the NHL and he will have a McLrath type stay. The other two are total reaches and will never even succeed at Hartford.

Someone needs some sleep. You hung out with the wrong ranger fans last night.

 

[UAGoalieGuy]

1. we fail to trade away any of our players
2. We take a reach and a Russian factor at#9 instead of trading down to get him
3. We grossly overpay to trade up from #26 to #22
4. we take a player at 22 who very likely have been available at #26
5. we take an undersized soft Swedish Dman at #28 instead of going with a legit power forward like Noel

This is a solid D-

I disagree on just about everything you said but namely Miller being there at 26. There's no way we could know for sure, but two teams with defensive needs trading back after the Miller pick is a decent indication that they wanted him.

Other teams may have been looking to move up as well and that pick was the Rangers cost. Guy has top pairing potential, is big and can skate like the wind.

I won't even touch on your other comments.

 

[haohmaru]

1. we fail to trade away any of our players
2. We take a reach and a Russian factor at#9 instead of trading down to get him
3. We grossly overpay to trade up from #26 to #22
4. we take a player at 22 who very likely have been available at #26
5. we take an undersized soft Swedish Dman at #28 instead of going with a legit power forward like Noel

This is a solid D-

1. Not relevant to grading our draft picks
2. Not a "reach" at all - ranked 3rd among European skaters
3. Gorton said he thought he'd be gone before 26, hence the trade
4. See above
5. Nobody after 20 is "legit". It's a crapshoot. That being said, this "unlegit" guy is said to be pretty steady and likely to an NHL defenseman.

 

[MikeSteaks]

Couldn't be happier! I've been gutting myself... reading all the comments from the drunk morons who think they know better than the Ranger's scouting staff.

 

[eco's bones]

I disagree on just about everything you said but namely Miller being there at 26. There's no way we could know for sure, but two teams with defensive needs trading back after the Miller pick is a decent indication that they wanted him.

Other teams may have been looking to move up as well and that pick was the Rangers cost. Guy has top pairing potential, is big and can skate like the wind.

I won't even touch on your other comments.

Ottawa knew we have two 2nd's. When the Rangers wanted to move up--it was going to cost us one of them then. It shouldn't be compared to the deal St. Louis and Toronto worked out later. It was simply what it took to move up to get a player you wanted.

 

[BklynTerp]

The two-thirds of the people who walked out of the theater after Lou Lamoriello picked BOTH of the clear picks seem to agree with me so whatever. But I defer to the Rangers' demonstrated success with first round picks.

Right because we all know the average fan in the Garden last night has spent so much time in Russia watching Kravtsov play. The only reason people are mad (like almost every other time fans get mad at the draft) is because they kept hearing the same one or two names, watched a 30 second highlight clip and convinced themselves that they NEED to have that one guy and the rest of the players they’ve never heard of or seen are clearly inferior. Like I’m supposed to give a f*** what Barry the Banker thinks about Kravtsov.

 

[ponytrekker]

Right because we all know the average fan in the Garden last night has spent so much time in Russia watching Kravtsov play. The only reason people are mad (like almost every other time fans get mad at the draft) is because they kept hearing the same one or two names, watched a 30 second highlight clip and convinced themselves that they NEED to have that one guy and the rest of the players they’ve never heard of or seen are clearly inferior. Like I’m supposed to give a **** what Barry the Banker thinks about Kravtsov.

What did Lou think?

 

[IamNotADancer]

You know what's D-? Years and years of drafting guys like Callahan, Dubinsky, Stepan etc. etc.

Getting pretty tired of the "safe pick NHL 3rd liner/grinder/maybe 2C"

"You wanna make an omelette, gotta crack some eggs".

I'm okay they are trying to get a game breaker, EVEN if it doesn't work out and every single player busts. But our past approaches in the previous drafts haven't really been fruitful aside from a late,late draft pick that came out of nowhere (Lundqvist) and a pick 30 years ago (Leetch).

I think the organization as a whole has been mortified by the Brendl and Lundmark picks, so much so that we haven't really risked much. So, overall I'm happy with a riskier approach.

 

[BklynTerp]

What did Lou think?

Thank god I have back to back picks at 11 and 12 in a draft where everything thinks there are stud prospects that are largely interchangeable through the top 12 and a drop off after that.

 

[ponytrekker]

You know what's D-? Years and years of drafting guys like Callahan, Dubinsky, Stepan etc. etc.

Getting pretty tired of the "safe pick NHL 3rd liner/grinder/maybe 2C"

"You wanna make an omelette, gotta crack some eggs".

I'm okay they are trying to get a game breaker, EVEN if it doesn't work out and every single player busts. But our past approaches in the previous drafts haven't really been fruitful aside from a late,late draft pick that came out of nowhere (Lundqvist) and a pick 30 years ago (Leetch).

I think the organization as a whole has been mortified by the Brendl and Lundmark picks, so much so that we haven't really risked much. So, overall I'm happy with a riskier approach.

They’re in the “prove it” phase with me.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Right because we all know the average fan in the Garden last night has spent so much time in Russia watching Kravtsov play. The only reason people are mad (like almost every other time fans get mad at the draft) is because they kept hearing the same one or two names, watched a 30 second highlight clip and convinced themselves that they NEED to have that one guy and the rest of the players they’ve never heard of or seen are clearly inferior. Like I’m supposed to give a **** what Barry the Banker thinks about Kravtsov.

I had the same at the draft. A Ranger fan raging as if we passed up on Gretzky.

 

[Ratelleitlikeitis]

Those who chose to give this an A level grade shouldn't be allowed to whine over any of these guys when they arrive on the scene...even if they don't reach expectations.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

What did Lou think?

He picked the best player available on their list. But maybe Kravtsov was higher on their list as well. We will never truly know. What we do know is that according to Bob, several teams had Kravtsov in their top 5 overall

 

[IronBloodedLion]

A- for me. They really swung for the fences with some of these picks, but it's hard not to be excited.

I would've chosen Wahlstrom as well, but it sounds like Kravtsov is going to be a helluva player. It's not like they chose a kid with absolutely no future. Can't wait to see this kid light up the lamp here in a few years. I think this could be a Porzingis-like pick for the Rangers, where the fans whine and complain, but in a few years they're all going to be wearing his jersey.

I absolutely loved the Miller pick. Very raw, but a ton of athleticism and potentional. Wisconsin is a great place to develop. Plus he seems like a really good kid.

I wanted Wilde here, but Lundkvist seems like he's going to be a really good player, and I think is a really nice compliment to our other defensive prospects with his ability to move the puck.

 

[LeetchisGod]

Couldn't be happier! I've been gutting myself... reading all the comments from the drunk morons who think they know better than the Ranger's scouting staff.

To be fair, this same scouting staff took McIlrath so they're not infallible.

 

[eco's bones]

A- for me. They really swung for the fences with some of these picks, but it's hard not to be excited.

I would've chosen Wahlstrom as well, but it sounds like Kravtsov is going to be a helluva player. It's not like they chose a kid with absolutely no future. Can't wait to see this kid light up the lamp here in a few years. I think this could be a Porzingis-like pick for the Rangers, where the fans whine and complain, but in a few years they're all going to be wearing his jersey.

I absolutely loved the Miller pick. Very raw, but a ton of athleticism and potentional. Wisconsin is a great place to develop. Plus he seems like a really good kid.

I wanted Wilde here, but Lundkvist seems like he's going to be a really good player, and I think is a really nice compliment to our other defensive prospects with his ability to move the puck.

Dobson would have been my guy here. Looking at how the draft evolved--Montreal takes Kotkaniemi at 3--he was 10th on my list. Kravtsov was 12th--keeping in mind I'm leaning towards a defenseman. Hayton was 16th --Arizona takes him at 5. I would have taken Kravtsov over Boqvist too. So the Rangers got a guy pretty much in the range where I thought he should go--a little bit of a reach and keeping in mind again my predilection for going for a d-man. Clark says Kravtsov was his second forward--so behind Svechnikov? I would have been pissed if we chose him ahead of Zadina or Tkachuk. That didn't happen---I would also have been pissed if they took him ahead of Hughes and kind of pissed about Dobson but that's really my only gripe here about Dobson. IMO though he's right there with Kotkaniemi or Wahlstrom---so this is a thing for those who want to piss and moan about it---let it go.

 

[eco's bones]

Gropp, Halverson and McIlrath didn't work out. OTOH Duclair and Buchnevich were great 3rd round picks. Brady Skjei was an excellent late 1st round pick. Kreider was exellent. Stepan was excellent. JT very good and Jesper Fast an excellent late pick. Most scouting staffs have their hits and misses. The Rangers aren't the worst.

 

[RangerBlues]

Kravtsov bust the draft is a failure. Even if you get two good productive players later on.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Grading this today is ridiculous. Can't assign a true grade for a few years - probably at least five actually.

For better or worse we'll all have a front row seat watching the development and play of Kravtsov and Wahlstrom. I hope everyone giving that selection and the first day a low grade today is proven wrong and everyone giving yesterday a high grade is proven right.

There should not be many years we have a 9th overall and three first rounders so the staff had to hit yesterday out of the park. If they did we are set up for years to come. If none of the three live up to their draft position - and if five years from now we're all pointing to a number of guys we passed on who are now studs - yesterday will have seriously set us back.

I will say I came out of yesterday feeling like we could have done better, but that is based on nothing but looking at rankings, listening to the tv commentators and reading these boards...so that opinion is basically irrelevant.

I am worried the two Long Island picks will be future stars and join Barzal as cornerstone players. I'm still bummed by them hiring Trotz, so that's probably affecting my entire mood!

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

To be fair, this same scouting staff took McIlrath so they're not infallible.

At least they fired their WHL scout