Blueshirt Banter 2025 Top 25 Under 25 Rankings: A Primer

This New York Rangers Top 25 Under 25 is a series we have done previously and I think now is a good time to bring it back. It is the dog days of summer, after all, so why not take a deep look at the 2025 youth/prospect pool?

A few things about this series I want out there before we begin (the first segment of players 25 through 21 will go up shortly after this).

(Editor's note: This primer and the first segment of this series, Top 25 Under 25 Rankings: 25-21, will be available free. To read the rest of the series, become a subscriber to Blueshirt Banter here.)

Rankings

This is obviously the crux of the entire series, so let me go into a little bit more in depth on how I came to these rankings.

The main thing to remember: These rankings are based on current status within the organization. These rankings are not just based around upside. A player who has seen NHL action—for example: Matt Rempe—will grade out higher on the rankings than a prospect who has not seen NHL time yet—like Malcom Spence—even though the hope is Spence eventually will have a bigger impact on the team.

In order of importance for factors influencing these rankings are based on the following:

1. NHL impact today
2. NHL impact down the road (obviously someone a year away ranks higher than someone two or more years away)
3. Upside
4. Age

Where there are ties (two players being in the NHL as example) we move on to the next criteria. So, again, Rempe will rank higher than Brett Berard because he's 1) seen more NHL action, 2) is more of a sure thing in my eyes to play more NHL games than Berard next year, and 3) right now has more of an impact on the NHL roster. All of that is true today, even if I think Berard might be the more important player down the line.

While I tried to really limit exceptions to these rules, there's one clear cut exception which is Gabe Perreault. Perreault will rank higher than Rempe and Edstrom not because I think he's a lock to be on the team for Opening Night next year, but because his impending NHL impact is going to be so much higher than what either of those two guys will bring and I expect him to get some NHL games next year. His upside is what really drives the decision there.

Othmann is another example of a player who will rank lower than Rempe and Adam Edstrom because I see both of those guys as more sure-fire NHL players, and we really need to figure out what Othmann is this year even if he is likely going to get a bigger role than them out of camp. It also matters that Othmann's ceiling just isn't anywhere near what Perreault's is projected to be, and that upside for him is really what puts him in a different category than everyone else.

Again most of this is subjective, but I tried to do it as uniformly as possible.

Criteria

The player needs to be under 25 years old; if they have already turned 25, they are disqualified. It doesn't matter where they play (NHL, AHL, juniors, etc), it's all based on age and the factors detailed above.

Prospects and NHL players will be ranked alongside each other, sorted based on the above.

As with all things we do here, these rankings and ratings are subjective to me. I sourced some information on guys I had less of a handle on, spoke to prospect people about where I had guys ranked and what their thoughts were, and compiled it all together into what you're about to enjoy.

Cadence

Honestly, prior to the summer moves from Chris Drury it was sort of hard to find enough 25-year-old players where I didn't roll my eyes at the bottom of the list. Now I feel like I have enough to work with.

I was going to start with a full honorable mentions story, but the players simply aren't there to merit it's own article. For now I would tell you guys like Zakary Karpa, Ty Henricks, Sean Barnhill, Artyom Gonchar, and Evan Passmore would make the list from an honorable mention standpoint.

With that said, starting later this morning these will drop in five-player increments, starting with players 25-21. Hope you enjoy!