Prospect Info: Rangers farm still disrespected

[OneMinuteShift]

Originally Posted by BrooklynHockey99

The worst would be neither Sang nor DZ nor any of the prospects panning out. It can happen. Look at Brown, Jarvis and Henry, who were all considered "safe" prospects. None made it.

Neither of those Dmen were as talented as the newest Dman drafted by the organization in the first round the last few years. We never considered those guys safe by any means, though I always had high hopes for Burke Henry who looked great the season after we drafted him. Many a call was put in by other teams trying to aquire him actually.

[Pizza]

Originally Posted by jas

Unfortunately, that break was used on Cherepanov, only to have it taken away.

The truth is, the Rangers have solid players, but, Cherepanov was the only chance at having a playing with elite talent. Zherdev is a player with elite talent, and Del Zotto is a heckuva talent from the backline. But, what the Rangers have most of is good talent -2nd liners - that work hard.

I still think that the Rangers might end up going after Radulov. He is a quick fix in the securing young talent department (like Zherdev), and because he'd be coming to NY, with his buddy already here, I think it's an easier sell to bring him back over.

Am\nd, aside from Grachev, the prospect I have the highest hopes for right now in the forward position is Stepan. He comes from a hockey factory in MSM-Shattuck. And, as a freshman, he's a top six forward playing important minutes at a major hockey program at Wisconsin. The key is patience. He still needs to fill out, but, from the reports I've read, he's quick, sees the ice well, and has a high hockey IQ. Ideally, he should play the full four years at Wisconsin, and just let him develop, although I'm sure the Rangers will keep a close eye on his proceedings.

A quality lacking in many Rangers fans including myself.

No system that produces the young players the Rangers have is lousy. People who say things like that are simply speaking out their rear end. However, aside from Henrick there has not been a significant breakout.

Among the likes of Girardi, Staal, Dubinksy Callahan, Dawes, Korpikoski and others coming up behind them we have the makings of a competitive future. But IMO the system will need to produce at least one true blue chip goal scorer to remain sustainable and have a chance to take things to the next level.

But I have no crystal ball. None of us do. The answer or part of it could be in one or more of the names mentioned above. As you say, we shall have to wait and see.

[Beacon]

Originally Posted by OneMinuteShift

Neither of those Dmen were as talented as the newest Dman drafted by the organization in the first round the last few years. We never considered those guys safe by any means, though I always had high hopes for Burke Henry who looked great the season after we drafted him. Many a call was put in by other teams trying to aquire him actually.

Burke Henry looked awfully good in juniors for two years, but then fell off completely. But yes, none of Brown, Jarvis or Henry had as much upside as either DZ or Sang.

But when it comes to the question of how "safe" the players were, the odds of them making the NHL, I'd say that they were at least as good. When Neil Smith got Jeff Brown in the first round, he announced that the kid is a sure-fire NHLer. He was never to be a top pairing dman, but he was supposed to be a very solid second pairing guy. That was never to be. The guy is now 30 years old and never played a game in the NHL. He retired having spent most of his years in the low-tier leagues such as the UHL.

I doubt that both DZ and Sang will bust like that, but it is the worst case scenario. In 1997, nobody thought that Brown, Jarvis and Henry will all bust.

Oh, and remember our blue chippers Brendl and Lundmark? Who'd have thought that both would bust. Or our top prospects Novak and Kloucek (he got injured, but that too happens)? Before that were center Dube and dman Vasiliev, top prospects who never made it.

And right after we won the Cup, I remember Barry Richter, Joby Messier (cousin of The Captain), Lee Sorochan, Max Galanov and Ed Campbell pumped up by the management as the future of our D. None made it as an NHL regular.

So the point is that most prospects don't pan out. Yes, you can get Leetch. You can even get Leetch and Zubov sometimes. But more often than that, you will wind up with Sorochan and Galanov or Brendl and Lundmark.

[NorthlandPro]

We agree on Jessiman, but, in this thread you are talking about the great drafting the flyers and devils did in picking Richards and Parise in a very deep first round in 2003. Many players in that draft were rated the same, so it came down to preference. If as you say, the devils and flyers did so well in finding a Richards and Parise why haven't they been consistently doing that since the 2003 draft? Their drafts since 2003 have sucked. NJ pick Zajac, another player I personally wanted for NYRs ( I would have traded down and not chosen Montoya because you don't pick a goalie that played behind a team that never allowed any scoring chances) . Since 2004 Sather has revamped the scouting staff and our drafts have gotten better. I would not trade our drafts from 2004 forward with the teams and years you have selectively picked to make your point.