Over the course of the
past month I have done previews of 10 different prospects: Mark
Scheifele, Mark
McNeill, Zack
Phillips, Joel
Armia, Sven
Bartschi, Ty
Rattie, Matt
Peumpel, Vladislav
Namestnikov, Rocco
Grimaldi and Tyler
Biggs. The looks at these players was to find out more about them
individually, along with how they might fit with the Rangers.
As
I said earlier
this morning, the Rangers are likely to go for a forward in tonight’s first
round. The names that seem to be most
popular around the Rangers fans are Mark McNeill, Joel Armia and some for Tyler
Biggs. If the selection were up to me it would not be any of those three,
rather I would take center Mark Scheifele.
Despite playing on a poor Barrie team Scheifele managed to score 22
goals and add 53 assists in 66 games.
Beyond
the statistics Scheifele has a reputation as an excellent two-way player that
is where he is because of dedication and work ethic. Arguably the most complete forward available
in this portion of the draft, Scheifele has excellent playmaking ability, good
vision and hands and plays both sides of the puck. Physically he has the frame that you look for
standing 6-foot-3, though he must add muscle and mass to his 177-pound body in
order to maximize his potential.
Everything
I have seen written about him tells me he would fit into the type of players
the Rangers want in their organization from both a hockey IQ and character
standpoint. The two-way style and
willingness to go to the net would make him a natural fit for the system on the
ice while having skill and upside.
Scheifele
was way off the radar coming into this season, but has continued to climb the
rankings and has been ranked 12 in Bob McKenzie’s final rankings as well as Red
Line Report. There have been a lot of
comparison’s to Ryan Johansen who went number 4 last year to Columbus. One that is closer to home for Rangers’ fans
might be Derek Stepan with more height.
Other Options:
Mark McNeill: Bruising forward from
Prince Albert that also put up good numbers with a less than stellar supporting
cast. Has more size than Scheifele, but
possibly not the offensive upside down the road. Likely to be off the board by 15.
Joel Armia: Tremendous sniper from
Finland who at 6-foot-3 would be an intriguing winger to take, but concerns
over his work ethic and one-way play could scare off the Rangers, if he is even
available.
Trade Down: Scheifele or McNeill are
the only players, unless Bartschi surprisingly slips, that I would stay at 15
to draft. If both are off the board the
team can move down to 20 with PHX or 25 with Toronto and still have similar
players available. At the later spots
the main targets should be Matt Puempel, Nicklas Jensen or Tyler Biggs.
