Podcast Ombudsman Report for Blueshirt Bandwidth Ep. 96

Welcome back to the Blueshirt Bandwidth Podcast Ombudsman Report. Each week, Charlie Vidal will listen to the latest episode of the podcast and correct the record on anything Joe and Eric get wrong. If you aren't already, you can listen and subscribe to the podcast here.

Braden Schneider Trade Implications

During their discussion of a potential trade of Braden Schneider, Joe and Eric debated whether trading Braden Schneider would force Alberts Smits into the lineup at the NHL level. Schneider is right handed, while Smits is left handed. Right now, the next two right handed defensemen up would be Vincent Iorio and Scott Morrow.

Prospects

When discussing prospects and Scott Morrow, Joe and Eric mentioned how during the Gordie Clark era the Rangers continuously failed to “hit” on prospects.

While we have previously been critical of first round selections made by the Rangers, you need to remember that most picks outside of the top few in the first round don’t “work out.” According to HockeyStats.com, only top three picks have a 50 percent chance of becoming a star, and only the top 25 picks have a 50 percent chance of becoming a regular NHL player and appearing in over 200 games.

Scott Morrow was the 40th pick in the 2021 NHL draft. While he had made it to the NHL and showed enough promise in the AHL to improve his stock by the time he was traded to the Rangers, the 40th pick in the draft generally has about a 35 percent chance of becoming an NHL regular. This means that the most likely outcome for Morrow and other second round picks is to not “pan out.”

John Tortorella

While discussing John Tortorella’s dismissal from the Golden Knights and continued availability on the coaching market, Joe said “I don’t know if Tortorella can get over the hump.” John Tortorella lead the 2003-04 Tampa Bay Lightning to a Stanley Cup championship.