Rangers Draft Day 1

On the heels of what was perhaps the most boring NBA draft ever, we have the NHL draft starting tonight. The Rangers have picks 10, 40, 100, 130 and 190. I think they made try to acquire a few more. This draft, like the recent NFL and MLB drafts is what I'd consider a red chip draft. That means there are an unusually low number of blue chip players and a larger concentration than normal of red chip players. That makes these kind of drafts deeper than usual.


Most NHL players started out as red chippers. Red chippers are also where you find the greatest value. Blue chippers have already been evaluated as having skyhigh upsides before the draft, thus, those upsides must be paid for. With red chippers, you're getting players who may, in fact, be underrated but possessing significant upsides -- and they cost less. In red chip drafts, the teams with the best scouts have a real advantage because there's dissonance on each player and the smartest teams will have their boards stacked correctly, and therefore gain an advantage.


The draft is being held in Los Angeles and if I had realized it sooner, I might have gone. In any event, the first round will be held tonight, and rounds two through seven will occur tomorrow. Tonight, the Rangers have the 10th pick. And judging from an unscientific perusal of several mocks, it looks like some very productive offensive players might be available.

Vlad Tarasenko played in the KHL this past season, and if the Rangers have information that he wants to play in the NHL, he could be the pick. He's an explosive and physical scorer who doesn't shy away from contact. Like Artem Anisimov he hails from Yaraslov, so there may even be a Ranger connection there. If it weren't for the signability issue, he would not be lasting till 10 and he might not.


Ryan Johansen is a player who really came on playing with other possibilty Nino Niederreiter. Johansen seems blessed with great vision and really bodes well for his future in the NHL. He's 6'3" and 190 and would need to pack on a little more weight, but vision in hockey and hoops can often be underrated, he has it in spades. His teammate, Nino, is a power forward prospect, and I'm little leery of taking power forward prospects this high. I want production. Though, to their credit playing together Johansen and Nino both averaged nearly a point per game.

Let me sidetrack for a moment. One of my draft standards for offensive players is they must score 1 ppg in preps or juniors. Especially in the first two rounds, I am looking for guys who can eventually come in and play on the first line for the Rangers, and they're just not likely to be NHL first liners if they're not dominating their teen peers at a point per game or better. So unless a teen is in a numbers game in a collegiate program, or playing against men in the KHL, I want to see that production, and don't want to hear any of the draft "experts" telling me how an uproductive teen scorer is going to turn into a great NHL scorer. I mean, it can happen, but it probably won't. That's why I loved the Kreider, Werek and Stepan picks. Those kids were productive first, then validated it through combine work. So, that's my little rant.

Now one guy who I think could be the Ranger Ringer tonight is Emerson Etem. Emerson is a gifted scorer who played at Medicine Hat in the juniors this year, but had previously gone to Shattuck-St. Mary's in Minnesota, the same hockey school that produced Derek Stepan, and some weirdo from the Pens. He also played juniors this year with Ranger prospect Tomas Kundratek, so they've seen him a lot. He scored 37 goals and had 28 assists as 17 year old rookie in juniors and that's close enough to PPG. He's a fast skater with great hands, work ethic, character, and hockey sense, who sounds just like the guys we've been picking lately. So, if Tarasenko isn't the pick, I wouldn't be surprised if Etem is.

Anyway, that's a few of the guys we could be looking at at 10. We'll talk about the pick as soon as it's made. I'm in a phase where I really trust the Yanks, Giants and Rangers when it comes to picking players. Though I don't trust Glen Sather with trading picks. Go Rangers!


NOTE: Just because I didn't name all of the teens who were .9 PPG or better, doesn't mean I won't like the pick of any of them, including Watson, Skinner or whomever. I trust the scouts and that standard.


UPDATE: The more I think about it, the more I think Nick Bjugstad, a prep out of a non Shattuck-St. Mary's HS in Minny could be another Rangers' Ringer. Like Kreider last year he has destroyed his level and it's a pretty good level in Minnesota. They seem to have some belief in American preps, and this kid has massive upside. Wouldn't surpise me if he is the pick.


UPDATE: And Here We Go! I'll make a new post when the Rangers pick or trade.