New York Rangers Announce Roster for Prospect Development Camp
Prospects camp will run from Monday, June 25 to Friday, June 29 at the MSG Training Center.
The New York Rangers hold a prospects development camp following NHL Draft weekend every year. This year’s camp starts on Monday June 25, and it will feature many of the organization’s top picks.
Per the Rangers’ official release:
The camp will feature several of the Blueshirts’ top prospects, including the team’s three first round selections in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Vitali Kravtsov (ninth overall), K’Andre Miller (22nd overall), and Nils Lundkvist (28th overall), the team’s two first round selections in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil, and three players acquired by the Rangers in February of 2018, Libor Hajek, Brett Howden, and Ryan Lindgren.
Thirty-six (36) players are attending the Rangers’ prospect development camp this year. All of the Rangers’ 10 selections in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft will attend the team’s prospect development camp this year: Kravtsov, Miller, Lundkvist, Olof Lindbom (second round, 39th overall), Jacob Ragnarsson (third round, 70th overall), Joey Keane (third round, 88th overall), Nico Gross (fourth round, 101st overall), Lauri Pajuniemi (fifth round, 132nd overall), Simon Kjellberg (sixth round, 163rd overall), and Riley Hughes (seventh round, 216th overall).
The full roster can be found in this tweet.
#NYR prospect development camp starts tomorrow!
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) June 24, 2018
The roster includes Kravtsov, Miller Lundkvist & the rest of the 2018 #NYRDraft class along with 2017 1st rounders Andersson & Chytil as well as acquisitions Hajek, Howden & Lindgren.
Full #NYRPDC roster ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/X5wuvIW23f
The majority of the roster is made up of Ranger prospects, but also includes invites such as Alex Basso (25), Mason Bergh (23), Kevin Hancock (20), Dylan McLaughlin (23), Drew Melanson (23), Josh Melnick (22), Brogan Rafferty (23) and Josh Teves (23).
Of the group, Hancock is the most interesting and he happens to be the youngest. He has spent the last three seasons with the Owen Sound Attack, and the 5’11”, 181-pound forward recorded 24 goals and 45 assists for 69 points in 53 regular season games. He followed that up with 15 points in 11 playoff games. The season prior he tallied 85 points in 68 regular season games, and 11 points in 17 playoff games.
He went undrafted for the second time in 2018 after not getting picked in the 2017 draft, and was ranked as low at No. 91 by NHL Central Scouting. At the very least he is an interesting name to have in camp, and could potentially represent an option for the Hartford Wolf Pack if he performs well this week.
Overall this week should be an interesting one for the Rangers, and it will be the first time team brass will get to evaluate the newly drafted prospects. It will also be interesting to see how they perform alongside more developed prospects such as Andersson, Chytil, Howden, Hajek and Lindgren.
The Rangers are committed to their rebuild, and it will be nice to see what happens when these youngsters get on the ice for a few scrimmages and drills.