Rangers Draft Review

The Rangers finally got to do what they do best - make some picks.   That is what is so maddening about their recent drunken distribution of first and second round picks.  They might have won a cup, even, by now if they had just kept working the draft and finding good players.  The heroic scouting team changed a little last summer after Gorton ascended to the GM's roll, as Steve Greeley became Gordie Clark's right hand man, and Nickolai Bobrov took over as Head European Scout from Anders Hedberg.  But it still seemed like classic Ranger Draft.

So let's take a look at the picks.

In round three the Rangers took LHS Sean Day.  This guy might be a ringer.  He was one of only 15 year olds ever to gain "exceptional" status and allowed to play as a 15 year old in the OHL.  Then his attention to detail was questioned, but he was also going through a family situation, and that probably explained his lack of attention.  These OHL coaches and scouts, and really coaches and scouts in all sports should read Maslow on need heirarchy, to wit, a kid who's troubled over family security, ain't gonna play his best.  Anyway, the Rangers may literally have caught a falling star with Sean Day.  Sort of like they did with Duclair and Saarela, wait a minute, now I'm scaring myself.   But, it was a great pick with huge upside.

In round four, they put Bobrov to work and picked another skilled LHS two way defenseman, this one from Finland. Tarmo Reunanen.  This was a big year for Finnish picks, and Tarmo may be a bit of a sleeper and he lost some time to injury, but he regained his health and is all you really want in a two way D. People might consider him a more conservative pick by the Rangers, but unless the focus issue Day was having was deeper than just teenage family stuff, I'd think the physically healthy guy might be the safer pick,  That said, they both look like outstanding values.

In round five, the Rangers took big Forward Tim Gettinger. Tim is listed as 6'5" as well as 6'6" so either way that's a big guy who should grow into a power forward.  Gettinger fell because he didn't live up to his own lofty expectations, because Tim is not only a tall forward, but he is also a legitimately great skater.  So, I wonder if he has inconsistent hands or something else.  Still he fits the Ranger great skating model, so let's see how he develops.

In round six, the Rangers took two guys. First, they took a real two way center in Gabriel Fontaine. Gabriel sort of fits the Derek Stepan profile, but he's not as productive on the offensive end a Derek was at the same age. But the Rangers really do always need two way players, if they don't want to repeat the kind of problems they had this year.

With their second pick in the 6th round, the Rangers took Goalie Tyler Wall.  Tyler had a great season, and is going on to play in the Big East for UMass this year and in the same conference as last year's hot Goalie pick Adam Huska.  Should be fun.  It's kind of amazing to me how the Rangers went from not being able to identify goalie prospects to picking good ones most years.  

Finally, in round seven, the Rangers took a highly skilled forward who scored 31 goals in the WHL named Ty Ronning.  In doing so they met their bloodlines quota, and they also added a kid who might have been a first or second rounder if he was just a few inches taller.  He's currently 5'9" and idolizes Johnny Gaudreau.  So this may have what it takes to make it.  He was more productive in WHL in the draft year than Ryan Gropp was, and look how well he's turning out.

So, in all, it was a surprisingly strong draft for the Rangers, who afterwards admitted they had been close to making deals in round one, but it sounded like the players they had targeted were not available when the picks in question came up.   Still, they salvaged a good one and I believe they have a first but no second yet next year.

Let's hope they add to next year's picks with this week's sell off.