Rangers Draft Review Part Two

In the day and a half since the draft ended, grades have come out as high as A and as low as D. And I think it's all foolishness. I'll talk about 2 different issues here. I think most of the mock draft creator spend a lot of time stacking the North American,  Major Junior, USHL, NCAA kids and then, and only then, to they try to see which international players they are capable of sliding between players they've already ranked. And I don't think that serves the players or the teams. Or projects the reality that will take place on Draft Night. I do think NHL teams like the Rangers and other organizations with unlimited draft budgets start with a more inclusive list.  Meaning their first top 10 will be more of a true ranking than someone who's making a mock and hasn't looked at the international players with the same gusto as a big time pro team can and must. I suppose there still are a few teams that run on a tight budget and who skimp on international scouting.  They'll be the ones taking all NA players or all OHL kids or something. It's foolishness and reflects a heavy and limiting bias.

The other thing is the idead of a short board. I first saw this term applied to Bill Belichick who claims to go into drafts with very specific and shorter boards than other teams, like the Giants, for example, use.  The Giants have a scouting report on everyone by the time the draft goes on. Belichick doesn't.  And I think the Rangers sort of followed Belichickian model. I say this because they were only looking for speed, skill and character, and that particular trifecta doesn't apply to everyone. I also think this because both Gordie and Gorton mentioned a list after the first night of the draft, not an exhaustive database, a list.  So it didn't seem all inclusive and made it seem like there were lots of players they just weren't interested in.  We'll see how this works out, but I do think it was a short board.

Btw, at the end of the Giants pre-draft mini-camp Coach Shurmur said he was going into the draft with a list of guys he wanted. And the Giants seem to have had a very successful draft.  Picking second in every round helps.