New York Rangers Prospects: Jesper Fasth Edition

As announced on August 1st, prospect guru Russ Cohen will be giving us some insight on some of the New York Rangers top prospects and draft picks this month. For those of you who don't know Cohen is an author http://www.amazon.com/Russ-Cohen/e/B0034P5DNC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_2 who can also be read at www.sportsology.info. You can also follow him on Twitter @sportsology.       

Today, Russ talks about Jesper Fasth, the New York Rangers sixth-round draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Fasth has made some noise this past season with some fantastic play, but is it enough to help him make the team in the future? 

Russ answers that and more after the jump. 

On The Fasth Track To Success? By Russ Cohen

Most times New York Rangers prospects come into the fold with a lot of fanfare and press clippings but right now one of the prospects that seems to be flying under the radar is Jesper Fasth. He was a 6^th round pick in 2010 and he's been playing over in Sweden for the past two seasons so that may play a part but I suspect in the next year or two Blueshirt fans will start to hear a lot more about him.

He has the ability to get around the defense and go end-to-end to create offense for his team. Right there that's an attribute that a lot of players don't have. Can he do it at the NHL level someday?  I think so, but I can tell you when you are playing against men over in Sweden, and you are still 19, that's pretty impressive. Last season for HV71 Jonkoping, he had 16 points in 36 games and he was a plus player.

I had a chance to see this flashy forward shine in the U-20 World Junior Championships. He was one of the best players on a Swedish team with bigger names like Adam Larsson (Devils), Tim Erixon (Rangers), goaltender Robin Lehner (Senators), Jonas Brodin (Minnesota) to name a few.  

The 6-0, 176 pound winger is versatile. He can play either side and he was amazing on the power play last winter for Team Sweden and they ran a pro style power play. He was a point-per-game player in that tournament.

Another solid trait was the fact that he follows up his shots and gets second chance goals. He hangs around the net, he's not going to play in front of it, but he is always near it making plays.

He does play a solid two-way game and now he just has to get used to North American hockey. Whether that's this year, or next, remains to be seen.

The organization likes his work ethic and I think he has a very bright future. He shined at prospect camp and I would have to think he would get a look in camp when the Rangers officially report in the coming days. 

For those of you who don't know Cohen is an author http://www.amazon.com/Russ-Cohen/e/B0034P5DNC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_2 who can also be read at www.sportsology.info. You can also follow him on Twitter @sportsology.