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, Joel Armia and their potential fits for the
Rangers.
Yesterday we looked at Sven Bartschi of the Portland
Winterhawks in the Western Hockey League and today we will examine his teammate
Ty Rattie. Rattie is not as explosive as
Bartschi, but he did manage to put up 28 goals and 51 assists in 67 regular
season goals. Like many of his Portland
teammates, Rattie had a very good playoffs with nine goals and 13 assists in 21
games.
Kirk Luedeke of Bruins
Draft Watch’s:
Small but creative playmaking winger hit the wall a bit in the second half, but is still a solid first-round prospect with upside. The Albertan isn't a blazer, but is very strong on his skates and highly elusive, able to slither through defenses and would-be checkers in full control of the puck. NHL scouts tell us that his second WHL season was so much more impressive than his first, when he seemed to spend more time trying the flashy play and forcing things. This season, Rattie was much more patient, working with his linemates better and not trying to do it all himself. His 79 points were third on the team behind Ryan Johansen and Bartschi, and look for Rattie to push for 90 to 100+ points next season.
The Scouting Report
(Ranked 20, midseason):
Since his huge October, he has seen his point per game total dip after posting 23 points in 12 October games. There is no question that Rattie has the potential to be a top 6 forward in the NHL one day. Rattie is an above average skater who sees the play extremely well and is very skilled at creating quality chances in the offensive zone. He also has the scoring touch to finish off those opportunities.
A forward with a good hockey sense. A decent skater but has improved lately. Has very good hands. Works hard and takes care of his defensive duties. Has a good attitude. Needs to improve his skating and gain strength. (Matias Strozyk)
Rattie is on the smaller size
and is not the fastest skater, but he makes up for his lack of explosion with
agility and elusiveness on the ice. He
can do this because of his hands and ability to handle the puck. He adds to that excellent vision which he
uses for himself and to set up his teammates.
Having a player who can create for others as he has done this season for
Bartschi and plays with an edge is something that the Rangers could use, but
the organization does have a few small forwards already in the system so his
size could be an issue selecting him. The Rangers should consider Rattie at 15,
but he could likely be had slightly later in the first.
