Rangers Prospects: October Notable Prospect Update
Authors Note: Welcome to the Notable Prospect Update which will give a quick statistical update of the more intriguing Rangers prospects in the system. This list is not set in stone so please do not panic, just leave a comment with the name of the prospect and I'll add him to the list (I want to keep it under 15 or so). In the end I think it's safe to say we are all more interested in the big club, but it's always good to keep one eye on the road ahead. It should also be mentioned that I am making assumptions from looking at stats, and that I have not watched any of the games I mention. With that said, enjoy.
With the month of October in the books, it's time to look back at some notable Ranger prospects to see how their season has gone thus far. I have a list of eleven players who, for the most part, are some of the more popular Ranger prospects because of their skill, story, draft position, or in one case last name (take a guess). Could I list every single prospect with upside and put their stats down? Sure... but if you're that big into the prospects you can do that yourself (Jim, Joe, and I do have lives, ya know! - j/k - but we do have lives...). This is essentially the Rangers Prospect Update/Guide for dummies. I tried to give the list a nice mix of AHL, NCAA, and CHL players which yielded six forwards, three defense, and two goalies. Let's take a look at the fancy chart shall we?
Some (possibly) out-of-context assumptions and ridiculous statements:
- Bobby Sanguinetti! 13 points in 11 games?!?! Fire Torts, Slats, and Dolan! Trade Redden! Cut/someone somehow cause a season-ending injury to Rozi! His biggest game this year was just this past Saturday on Halloween with 2 goals and 2 assists against Providence in a 7-nil Wolfpack win. Keep it up Bobby...
- Ryan Bourque will be better than his father. Six goals and fourteen points in fifteen games? Smells like domination in Quebec City (or is that the poutine?). In all seriousness, Ryan has been pretty consistent thus far with the Remparts, failing to register a point in only six out of fifteen October games.
- Another Ranger forward prospect lighting up a league in the CHL is Ethan Werek of Kingston. Eight goals in thirteen played? I think we will take that.
- Now to some bad, Ryan McDonagh of Wisconsin. I'm sure he's playing great defense, but in a game on October 24th at Minnesota State McDonagh received a Game Misconduct for hitting from behind just over halfway through the third period. He responded with a two-assist weekend in two wins over New Hampshire along with only two penalty minutes.
- Although the stats aren't great, how about Chad Johnson going down to Hartford and taking over the starting job? He impressed us all I think in pre-season, and his record has actually improved to 4-3 with a 33 save win over Manchester on Sunday (November first).
- Finally, I'm glad to see Ilkka Heikkinen (Can anyone pronounce that?) has adjusted well to the North American game. Get this, as a D-man he has no penalties thus-far this season. Gotta love them Fin's! He also notched his third goal of the season in the same game against Manchester last Sunday.
So what do you guys think of some of the young gun's thus far? I'm particularly happy that Ryan Bourque is ripping up the QMJHL, but at the same time I'm a little worried about Chris Kreider starting off a little slow with BC in Hockey East. I have a feeling he will come around though. Anyone been to any Hartford games? I'll have to look up if the Rangers have any ECAC prospects to keep an eye out for as I work in the Penalty Box for Clarkson games. Either way, sound off in the comments.