The Athletic Pronman: New York Rangers Rank No. 15 in NHL Pipeline Rankings for 2023

[Phil]

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1. Alexis Lafrenière, LW

 

Tier: Top of the lineup player

Skating: Below NHL average
Puck skills: Above NHL average
Hockey sense: Above NHL average
Compete: NHL average

 

Analysis: Lafrenière has been up and down in the NHL, and while an excellent young player, he has underperformed relative to what was expected of him coming out of junior. On the good, Lafreniere has a lot of offensive talent. It’s not easy to score 39 points in the NHL at age 21 without consistent power-play time that’s hard to come by on the Rangers. He has excellent hands, he thinks the game very well, and he can make a lot of difficult plays with the puck. When he’s engaged, he’s a dynamic skill type with some physicality in his game, too. However, that Lafrenière doesn’t always show up. Too many games you can barely notice him, and his footspeed doesn’t do him any favors. I still think he’s going to be an excellent longtime NHL wing, but his lack of development over his three-year NHL career has certainly been frustrating to watch.

 

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2. Kaapo Kakko, RW

 

Tier: Top of the lineup player

Skating: Below NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average

 

Analysis: Kakko had his most productive NHL season to date, scoring 40 points despite not getting a ton of power-play time. He offers a lot of positives; it’s why he was a No. 2 pick. He has excellent stick skills and offensive IQ, making a lot of difficult and creative plays with the puck. He’s a big body who can get to the inside. Kakko isn’t going to run over opponents, but he is a powerful winger who can win battles, fend off checks and create at the net. His footspeed is just OK and he may never be the star some hoped he would be in 2019, but I still see Kakko having a long and highly productive NHL career.

 

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3. Gabriel Perreault, LW

 

Tier: Bubble top and middle of the lineup player

Skating: Below NHL average
Puck skills: Above NHL average
Hockey sense: High-end
Compete: Above NHL average

 

Analysis: Perreault is an extremely skilled and intelligent winger who can make a ton of positive things happen inside the offensive zone. He makes highly creative and unique dekes and passes with the puck at a high rate, both off the perimeter and in small areas. His puck game is clear NHL power-play quality, and he will score as a pro. The issues on Perreault’s game are his 5-foot-11 frame and his lack of footspeed. He shows good second effort and can win puck battles at the junior level, although whether he can do that versus men is a concern. His hockey sense is so elite though that I think he can overcome those issues and become a very good top-six winger.

 

https://theathletic.com/4794908/2023/08/23/new-york-rangers-nhl-prospect-pipeline-rankings/

 

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Schneider (4), Othmann (5), Cuylle (6), Chmelar (7), Robertson (8), McConnell-Barker (9), and Zac Jones round out the top-10 on this list.

 

Edstrom, Korczak, and Sykora are ranked in the "Has a chance to play*" tier.

[Br4d]

Skating is something the Rangers either do not evaluate or do not evaluate well.

 

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Br4d

[Costa]

Do you honestly think, even if he busts his ass and becomes the player we all thought he was when we drafted him 1st overall, a) he'll get top 8 minutes b) get more PP time and c) be on a longer leash. Knowing this fuckin team, IMO probably not.  Especially when you have 2 LW's making almost 20 mil and one IMO, is a fuckin diva.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Costa

[Br4d]

If Lafreniere shows the stuff we thought we were getting when we drafted him all the other LW's will become an afterthought.  He could be here for a decade.  None of those guys will last more than 3 seasons at the outside.

[MuddyInTheMiddle]

2 hours ago, Br4d said:

Skating is something the Rangers either do not evaluate or do not evaluate well.

 

 

So fricking true. It immediately jumped out at me how every single prospect was ranked at or below NHL average. It's not like skating is 90+% of the game or anything.

 

Genuinely wonder where the skating ranking of many former high end draft picks like Lunqkvist, Kravtsov, and Andersson that did not succeed, and if you can draw a straight line to what they are looking for when drafting.  

[Sharpshooter]

Lafreniere's ceiling right now is Pat Maroon.

[Sod16]

I don't see how you include a player entering his fifth season and another entering his fourth in an assessment of "the pipeline."  Is Fox in the pipeline?

[Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc]

20 hours ago, Phil said:

Perreault is an extremely skilled and intelligent winger who can make a ton of positive things happen inside the offensive zone. He makes highly creative and unique dekes and passes with the puck at a high rate, both off the perimeter and in small areas. His puck game is clear NHL power-play quality, and he will score as a pro. The issues on Perreault’s game are his 5-foot-11 frame and his lack of footspeed. He shows good second effort and can win puck battles at the junior level, although whether he can do that versus men is a concern. His hockey sense is so elite though that I think he can overcome those issues and become a very good top-six winger.

This sounds like a new bust to me.

 

Small and can't skate, but is "extremely skilled and intelligent" and can "make a ton of positive things happen". Good luck with that if you're small and can't skate.

 

This organization just never learns.

[Sharpshooter]

Yeah. It seems like they always have guys who are skilled but can't skate, or guys that can skate very well, but aren't that skilled. lol

Edited August 24, 2023 by Sharpshooter

[Cash or Czech]

14 hours ago, Sharpshooter said:

Lafreniere's ceiling right now is Pat Maroon.

 

Interesting take considering Lafreniere's career points/game is higher than Maroon's already.

[Sharpshooter]

1 hour ago, Cash or Czech said:

 

Interesting take considering Lafreniere's career points/game is higher than Maroon's already.

I was (mostly) being facetious.

[Albatrosss]

21 hours ago, Sharpshooter said:

Lafreniere's ceiling right now is Pat Maroon.

[Sharpshooter]

48 minutes ago, CCCP said:

Worst first overall pick in NHL history.

[Phil]

22 hours ago, Sharpshooter said:

Lafreniere's ceiling right now is Pat Maroon.

 

Pat Falloon.

[Albatrosss]

2 hours ago, Sharpshooter said:

Worst first overall pick in NHL history.

Edited August 24, 2023 by CCCP

[Sharpshooter]

2 hours ago, Phil said:

 

Pat Falloon.

Oh, no!

[Phil]

12 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

Oh, no!

 

[Pete]

14 hours ago, Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc said:

This sounds like a new bust to me.

 

Small and can't skate, but is "extremely skilled and intelligent" and can "make a ton of positive things happen". Good luck with that if you're small and can't skate.

 

This organization just never learns.

Remind me of your username again?

[The Dude]

5 hours ago, Phil said:

 

Pat Falloon.

Fat Balloon

 

Edited August 25, 2023 by The Dude

[MuddyInTheMiddle]

1 minute ago, The Dude said:

Fat Baloon

 

Keep it down Shayna; fat shaming isn't cool.

[The Dude]

2 minutes ago, MuddyInTheMiddle said:

 

Keep it down Shayna; fat shaming isn't cool.

Oh. Well obviously I take it back. Because I want to be cool. 

 

Who's Shayna? 

[MuddyInTheMiddle]

9 minutes ago, The Dude said:

Oh. Well obviously I take it back. Because I want to be cool. 

 

Who's Shayna? 

 

https://www.blueshirtsbrotherhood.com/topic/20359-carp-expect-rangers-to-target-blake-coleman/page/3/#comment-832929

 

Sorry; it was the Rye whiskey that made me do it. Still find it hilarious 3 years later.

Edited August 25, 2023 by MuddyInTheMiddle

[The Dude]

2 minutes ago, MuddyInTheMiddle said:

 

https://www.blueshirtsbrotherhood.com/topic/20359-carp-expect-rangers-to-target-blake-coleman/page/3/#comment-832929

 

Sorry; it was the Rye whiskey that made me do it. Still find it hilarious 3 years later.

Josh??!!!!???? Have you spoken to Josh? His mom? 

 

[Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc]

9 hours ago, Pete said:

Remind me of your username again?

Haha touché.

 

Maybe that's the reason why they like to draft these kind of players. Everyone misses Zuc. I understand...

[siddious]

On 8/23/2023 at 5:55 PM, Sod16 said:

I don't see how you include a player entering his fifth season and another entering his fourth in an assessment of "the pipeline."  Is Fox in the pipeline?

Yes this is weird 

 

I saw 15 and I did a double take