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The New York Rangers knew what they were doing when they selected J.T. Miller with their first overall pick in the 2011 Entry Draft. Miller plays a physical style game, can also put the puck in the net and he fits perfectly into the current Rangers system.

J.T. Miller impressed the Rangers brass this past September at the Traverse City Tournament. His success in the Traverse City tournament earned him a spot on Team USA's 2012 IIHF World Juniors roster this past month. In USA's first game they ran all over Denmark in an 11-3 victory, and J.T. Miller came away with the eighth goal of the game.

Miller is constantly improving his play game by game, and it makes the Rangers that much more interested in him. This will be another great opportunity to impress the Rangers brass at an international level before heading back to Plymouth. Thus far, he has done nothing but impress and we will continue to track his progress in USA's next game, tomorrow against Finland.

The New York Rangers second round draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft had a big night. After a slow start to his season, Christian Thomas had an impressive five points (3 goals, 2 assists), in a 8-4 victory over the Sarnia Sting.

In 19 games this season, Thomas has registered 11 goals, and 9 assists, through 19 games. That makes him just over a point-per-game player this season. Thomas was also forced to miss ten games in November, after he was suspended for a high-sticking incident. That, accompanied by a scoring slump, didn't give Thomas the greatest start to his season.

It's great to see Thomas turn around, and total five points in a single game. That right there, can be a confident booster, and help him turn around the season. While he's not doing terrible, but after a 99 point season there were a lot of high expectation people expected him to reach.

Mitch Beck has been primarily covering the Hartford Wolf Pack / Connecticut Whale for the past six years. Mr. Beck also has extensive coverage of the Rangers/Whale's ECHL Affiliate, first the Charlotte Checkers and now Neil Smith's Greenville Road Warriors. Somehow he also finds the time to cover the Rangers too. You can read and follow his site at Howlings.net.

Let's get straight to the questions.

BC: Who has impressed you most this season in Connecticut?

MB: Jonathan Audy-Machessault has come completely from out of no-where it seems and leads the team in points and is showing that he has great potential. He's been playing a lot with Mats Zuccarello and been centered by John Mitchell and Kris Newbury. He has a real chance of being a possible NYR if he keeps up the pace that he's going on.

BC: How has Tim Erixon played in his limited time in Connecticut? Do you feel he needs more time with the Whale?

MB: Tim Erixon has only played a couple of games with the team. It's a bit early to be assessing who he is and what he could or couldn't do. But I will tell you this; J.J. Daigneault is about as good of a coach for young defenseman as they come. Add in the help he'll be getting from Wade Redden and Brendan Bell and he could possibly become something very special.

BC: How helpful do you think Michael Del Zotto's time with the Whale helped him mature and prepare for the NHL?

MB: I think he benefitted greatly from the time here. Again, he was given great counseling from the staff and Redden. He also dedicated himself, maybe even obsessed, on improving his game over the summer and the results certainly are showing.

BC: Which goalie has been more impressive: Cam Talbot, or Chad Johnson?

MB: Chad Johnson was just named the Reebok/AHL Goaltender of the Month. Cam Talbot has been exceptionally locked in. They're both good goaltenders in their own right. The keys for both; Johnson needs to control rebounds and Talbot needs to remain healthy.

BC: Jonathan Audy-Marchessault leads the team in all scoring categories. Do the stats lie, or has he been that good?

MB: It's still early to give a definitive answer one way or the other, but he sure has been impressive to this point.

Follow me after the jump for more, including thoughts on the top prospects in Connecticut

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A new weekly feature that I will be running here is the "Weekly Whale Recap." If you have a better name for it (The Wade Redden Chronicles is not a good name for it) please let me know.

Rather than starting by recapping this past week, let me catch you up on the current Connecticut Whale season.

The Whale are 7-2-1, leading their division by two points. Cam Talbot and Chad Johnson have been splitting time in net, with Johnson having a 2.22 GAA, and Talbot having a 2.29 GAA.

Connecticut was sparked early on by brilliant play by Kris Newbury, who tallied four goals in the first four games. Newbury, however, is not the team leader in the main statistics. That honor belongs to Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, with five goals, six assists, and eleven points, all team highs.

Join me after the jump for some notes about the prospects in Connecticut.

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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. 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.      

This installment Russ talks to us about Chris Kreider, one of the biggest gems in the Rangers' farm system right now. Does Russ agree with that? 

Click below the jump to find out. 

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After the New York Rangers loss to the New York Islanders, John Tortorella elected to send forwards Mats Zuccarello down to the AHL. It wasn't a decision based on poor play, it was just a matter of Zuccarello not receiving enough ice time (he only played for four minutes against the Islanders) for his development. 

While admitting that he was disappointed, Zuccarello said he was going to make it a point to get back with the big club as soon as possible. 

That point was received last night. In his debut for the Connecticut Whale, Zuccarello buried two goals and added an assist for a three-point game. 

Although it's only been one game, Zuccarello knows it's time to make his point. The young forward understands that he wasn't sent down based on anything he did wrong, which while frustrating, leave the door open wide for a return back to the big club. 

Join me after the jump for more. 

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While we continue to look for bright spots as the New York Rangers remain winless so far this season, I realized I accidentally omitted Jesper Fasth from yesterday's prospects post. 

Fasth was the Rangers' sixth round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, and is quickly becoming one of the biggest up-and-coming players within the Rangers farm system. Fasth already has four goals and seven assists for 11 points in 11 games for HV71 Jonkoping of the SEL. That's even more impressive when you realize that Fasth has put up a point-per-game as a 20-year old in a league of men. 

Fasth is already inching towards career numbers in the SEL, the young forward posted 16 points in 36 games last year, and is on pace to crush that record. 

While Fasth might be flying a little under the radar with names like Ryan Bourque, Christian Thomas, Chris Kreider and Carl Hagelin taking the spotlight, Fasth has been tearing it up overseas. 

Hopefully we see more of this from him.