The 2011 draft now less than one month away, and the
Rangers scouting and front office staff is looking through many prospects to
see who they want to select with the 15th overall selection. With the current state of the Rangers defense
both at the NHL and prospect level one would expect that New York will look for
offense in the first round of the draft hoping to find an impact scorer. There are a number of offensive prospects
that could be available at 15. We have
already looked at Mark
Scheifele, Mark
McNeill, Zack Phillips, and Joel Armia and their potential fits for the
Rangers.
We kick off this week with a look at a supreme talent that is unlikely to
be there when the Rangers pick at 15 in the form of Sven Bartschi from the
Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. Bartschi, much like fellow Swiss forward Nino Niederreiter
did last season in Portland, established himself as an offensive force with his
34 goal, 51 assist output in 66 games this year. He kept up his efforts during the playoffs
with 10 goals and 16 assists in 20 playoff games.
The young left winger is
slightly undersized at 5’10” and weighing 180 pounds, but that does not stop
him from going to the dirty areas of the ice.
The best attribute for Bartschi is his hands which using for his
tremendous shot and he pairs with excellent vision and a very good hockey IQ to
be a force on the ice.
Kirk
Luedeke of Bruins
Draft Watch’s:
Swiss forward and 34-goal scorer has a wicked shot (rapid release and powerful, accurate drive) and elite offensive instincts. He formed a highly effective trio with fellow draft candidate Rattie and Cunningham when the latter came over from Vancouver at mid-season. Not an explosive speedster, but knows how to get from point A to B. Played a more effective game in junior this season than he did at the WJC. Solid kid and easygoing personality, but could stand to pick up the work ethic at times. Highly skilled winger will likely be a top-15 pick, but he's a finesse guy who could stand to take the puck to the net more than he does. Bartschi is deadly with that drive of his, but it's tough to score from the outside consistently at the NHL level, no matter how much pop you have on your stick.
The Scouting Report
(Ranked 12,
midseason):
Bartschi has really come out of nowhere this season, but has quickly made a name for himself playing in the latest North American hotbed for Swiss prospects. Does a good job of going to the net and playing hard despite being undersized. Has a good touch around the net and has found a lot of chemistry with linemate Ty Rattie this season. Defensive zone play needs some improvement as Bartschi needs to be more aware of his responsibilities in zone.
Bartschi would be a gift for the Rangers if
he was to fall to New York at 15, but I would look for the dynamic winger to be
gone in the at the latest to Calgary with pick 13, and potentially sneaking
into the latter end of the top 10 based not only on his season, but his playoff
performance.
