TSN Ranks Rangers Top Prospects

With the 2011 NHL Entry Draft not far away, we have been doing a lot of talking about the Rangers future as of late, specifically all of the young prospects who are coming up through the system and undergoing the journey to the National Hockey League. Recently at TSN, Scott Cullen did a ranking of the top Blueshirt prospects based on their current performance in minors/juniors, as well as their overall potential.

Here is Cullen's ranking of the Top 10 Ranger 'spects:

1. Tim Erixon, D
2. Chris Kreider, C
3. Christian Thomas, RW
4. Evgeny Grachev, LW
5. Dylan McIlrath, D
6. Carl Hagelin, LW
7. Ryan Bourque, C
8. Jesper Fasth, RW
9. Chad Johnson, G
10. Pavel Valentenko, D

I find it interesting that he ranked newly acquired defenseman Tim Erixon ahead of Chris Kreider. If I were ranking the Rangers' top ten, Kreider would undoubtedly be at the top of my list, but I think the fact that Cullen has Erixon first proves this kid really was the best prospect within the Calgary Flames organization. And if that is the case, then GM Glen Sather's swap of two 2^nd round picks and Roman Horak for Erixon was an absolute steal in my book. 

Also, I agree with Cullen that Christian Thomas has now surpassed Evgeny Grachev in the rankings. The switch from the OHL to the AHL hasn't gone as smoothly as Grachev may have hoped, which you probably have already assumed since you don't hear his name as often anymore and the Rangers have went to other sources when it came time to recall a player from the Connecticut Whale during the season. Grachev did finish this past season strong, though, but he needs to pick that up again next season if he ever wants a shot at cracking the NHL lineup.  

Thomas, who the Rangers recently signed to an entry-level contract, is a dynamic offensive player and put up spectacular numbers with the Oshawa Generals of the OHL this past year. This kid has talent and is yet another one of Gordie Clark's gem draft picks coming beyond the first round. 

At number five comes the rough and tough blue-liner known as Dylan McIlrath. The fan base was up in arms when the Rangers selected McIlrath instead of Cam Fowler in the 2010 Entry Draft, but as we've heard more about him over the course of the past year, specifically about how tough he is, the fans have started to warm up to him more. 

And then of course there is Carl Hagelin and Ryan Bourque, both of which I see on the Rangers sometime in the next two or three years. Hagelin has astounded many playing at the college level with Michigan and I think he is someone who will take many by surprise when he enters the league. And as I've said before about Bourque, he is Ryan Callahan part two, and you can never have enough of those. 

So for the most part I think Cullen's rankings are pretty accurate, although I would make that switch in the one and two spots. The bottom line here is that the future is bright and as long as we have patience, the time will come for the New York Rangers to be legitimate contenders again. 

Comments

[RangerSmurf]

You have to love the climb Fasth is making in these rankings too. When he's ready to come over, he's going to give us even more depth.

Erixon's going to be getting top 4 minutes by end of year, mark it down.

[JohnP]

It looks like Erixon has the team made unless something goes wrong. I wouldn't mine seeing at least one other off that list make the team, just to get them some NHL time. maybe Thomas but I'm not really sure of Kreider's status.

[elsie]

oh please this is all just 'throwing darts' and saying hunches out loud.
besides. Cullen is a 'fantasy league' writer

Fasth but not Lindberg?
no 'props' to Kundratek? Weise? Pashnin?
Guys want to dump on Grachev, who is only 21 and 3 months old, because the Ranger promoted him too soon?
Bourque and Thomas are Smurfs, lots of talent and hustle, but as we've seen with Prucha and Zuccarello, betting on the next Martin St.Louis\Doug Gilmour is risky business.
And RE Johnson, he wasn't even #1 in Hartford last year.

I am not dissing any of our prospects, I hope they all have great NHL careers.
But its hard to project on any rational basis, when only Valentenko has played much against men.

The great news is the deep pipeline.