With so many good prospects still on the board I would not have went with an overager. Karow, heading to BC, is also a left dman who's younger and has a higher ceiling, he was still on the board.
Lots of people have said nice things about this guy since we picked him. Seemed like an odd pick but what do I know. Let's see what he can do.
Can't say I wouldn't have taken a guy like Reedy here, though I am also curious why Reedy seemed to noticeably fall.
As for Crawley, he's definitely a bit of a risk.
He's come a very long way in juniors and ten years ago I would've felt a little more confident about the possibility of him making the successful jump to the pros. With that said, it's not 2007 and I'm just not sure he keeps up with the pro game in 2017.
However, there are a lot of attributes to like here. In some ways he's not all that different than Brendan Smith, though it remains to be seen if he can continue his development.
The Rangers have a good scouting department, though I think people have somewhat forgotten that because a lot of their gems have been traded, along with a lot of picks. Maybe this one is a hit, they've had good luck with overage players in the past. But even if it isn't, our staff is good. No need to get over-dramatic.
I remember watching the pick come up at 102 and thinking we should take Reedy or Safin and then it was moved. Then I thought will we moved 21 spots down just to pick up an extra 6th round pick? The only thing I can say is I think the Rangers pretty much had a bunch of guys in mind but to them at 102 the draft had pretty much already turned into a crap shoot and they decided the more picks the better. Though they must have always had Lakatos and Virta in mind and the Sjalin pick would have been fine at 102 too. Which is to say it's a little bit confusing to me.
Time will tell.
It could be one of those trades/picks where everyone saw it coming, or it could be one of those moves where we throw out these names years from now and say, "Wow, I had completely forgotten about him. Remember how ticked we were that we didn't get him?"
It seems to me that if you're one of those who puts a lot of faith in the Hockey New top 100 draft picks or even the CBA's or even a lot of the draft prospectuses out there the Rangers amateur scouting draft is going to drive you nuts. It's not anything new. This has been going on for years. Not so much for first round picks but the 2nd round and on the Rangers don't go according to anyone's script. They have their own particular criteria for the kinds of players they choose and just because Red Line Report or McKean's or TSN suggest this player or that it doesn't make a difference to the Rangers amateur scouts.
That being said we do make some terrible picks but I don't think overall that the Rangers comparatively draft that badly at all.
The sad thing is that Crawley plays a game that is very easy to like. I'm just not sure how it translates to the pro game.
The sad thing is that Crawley plays a game that is very easy to like. I'm just not sure how it translates to the pro game.
Crawley apparently plays a game I love. I always like hard-nosed guys that clear a crease and play defense. Like Graves, I want to like him. It's just that often these guys don't have the mobility and puck skills to translate to the modern NHL.
They passed up a lot of high ceiling European prospects to take a CHL double overager with limited potential.
So who thinks Crawley gets signed, and plays AHL, this year?
Or is the overage year at London a foregone conclusion ...