Prospect’s Prospering

Let’s have a look at some of the Rangers draft picks and future hopes and how they’ve been doing recently. It’s been a while since we checked in around the junior circuits.

Saintly Returns

Michael St Croix is a plus 30 for the season. Yes, you read that right. It’s because he’s flat out scoring for fun. A mid round pick of the Rangers in 2011, its unlikely many people saw this level of scoring from St Croix. The skilled center has grabbed 77 points in just 48 games in the WHL this season, which given the stingier nature of the WHL (as opposed to other junior leagues) is an exceptional return.

You want progress? St Croix’s offensive return is the two points better than his total points from last season in 20 games less. Clearly, the Rangers have another talented center on their hands. Oh and he’s now been crowned player of the week twice. One to keep your eyes on folks.

Back in Scoring Mode

The Rangers seem to have offensive potential springing up everywhere right now. Joining St Croix in quality offensive production is JT Miller who has recently got back to his scoring ways and now boasts 43 points in 39 games for the Whalers of the OHL.

Miller has learnt a lot this season. From his time with the Rangers to the world Juniors, Miller has been exposed to a variety of levels of hockey this season as well as the exposure to more hockey than he’s been used to. Miller’s another player that looks a great draft pick so far.

Best of the Rest

Honourable mentions in the offensive stakes have to go to Shane McColgan, Andrew Yogan, Christian Thomas and Steven Fogarty who are all close to or above the point per game threshold in their respective leagues. Naturally, each player has a different level of expectancy placed on their shoulders and is in different stages of their development but so long as each one can continue to produce as their respective leagues head to the critical time in their seasons, it bodes well for their immediate futures. With Christian Thomas turning 20 in May, he’s almost certainly one that’s headed for pro hockey next season.

Final Mention

In need of a change of scenery all season has been Scott Stajcer. The Owen Sound goalie has put up solid numbers when called upon but has split the crease with Jordan Binnington. Wins aside, Stajcer has put up the far superior numbers (924% to .890, 2.53 GAA to JB’s 3.38) but it has to be a concern that as an over-ager Stajcer hasn’t had anywhere near the playing time his development needs.

Given the still murky goalie situation behind Lundqvist and Biron, Stajcer still has a shot with the organisation as no goalie with the Whale has shown to have full time NHL potential this season. Stajcer’s destination next season will be an interesting development over the coming months.

Prospect Watch: Point Producing Juniors

The Rangers can watch their prospects in Canadian juniors with great satisfaction right now. Around a month in to the season and several prospects are scoring at an excellent rate headlined by Shane McColgan who has an impressive 17 points in 14 games for the struggling Kelowna Rockets of the WHL. With his side sitting second from bottom in their division with a 5-9-1 record, McColgan’s -6 rating is the only blot on his personal stat line this season.

A couple of other players are having great starts in junior. JT Miller continues to impress for Plymouth in the OHL and with 17 points in 15 games he’s showing an impressive offensive side. Leading his team offensively Miller has been at the forefront of Plymouth’s improved form as they have gone 5-3-2 in their past 10.

The third prospect scoring at a fast rate in juniors is Mike St Croix. St Croix has 15 points in 16 games for the Edmonton Oil Kings and is doing it on the power play as well as at even strength.  Of his 5 goals so far this season, 3 have been with the man advantage. The Kings, like the Whalers in the O, have been a team on the rise and have 6 wins in their past 10 to move 4 points behind Kootenay and Medicine Hat in their division.

All three prospects discussed above have something in common; they seem to be offensive go-to guys for their clubs. Scoring at impressive rates, all three seem to be impact players and that is something that bodes well for their professional futures. A few years ago it would have been difficult to find this many Rangers prospects making positive impressions at the same time. The prospect pipeline is certainly in a healthy state right now.

Quick hit time:

• Chris Kreider continued his impressive season this past weekend. BC moved to a 6-1 record last weekend as first beat UMass 4-2 on Friday (Kreider was scoreless) and then thumped the same club 6-3 whereby Kreider was all over the scoreboard. Grabbing 2 goals and an assist, Kreider had 6 shots and went +2 as he had the game winner as well as a PP goal too. Kreider has 11 points in 8 games this season.
• Scott Stajcer continues to improve as the season goes on. The rust seems to be gone as the goalie has improved to a 2-2-2 record but has a strong .920 save percentage and a much healthier 2.62 GAA. Stajcer stopped 39 of 40 shots on Sunday as Owen Sound beat Windsor 4-1.
• Christian Thomas is sporting an ugly -8 rating in just 13 games as his Oshawa Generals continue to play mediocre hockey with a 7-8-0-2 record this season.
• Sam Noreau is off to a nice start for Baie-Comeau in the QMJHL, going 1+7 in 11 games as well as sporting a strong +8 rating.
• Despite being pointless in his last 2 games Jesper Fasth still has 14 points in 16 games for HV71 in the SEL.
• Blueliner Mikhail Pashnin has 2 goals for CSKA in the KHL (in 19 games).

Christian Thomas is currently sitting through a ten game suspension in the OHL for high sticking. The ban began on 24^th October. With high draft picks Boone Jenner and Niklas Jensen in the line-up, Oshawa should have – at least offensively – been able to cope without Thomas but they’ve been whipped 5-2 and 6-2 in their past two games. Neither player has managed to score in the defeats so Oshawa will want to get Thomas back as quickly as possible.

Draft Rounds 2-7 Recap

The Rangers entered today with three picks, but wound up making five, as they made two trades to acquire additional picks in this draft. The first trade saw Evgeny Grachev pack his bags for St. Louis in exchange for a third round pick (#72). The second trade was a swap of sixth round picks with Nashville, as the Rangers sent their 2012 sixth rounder for Nashville’s 2011 sixth rounder (#172). Let’s go round by round:

Third round (#72) – Steven Fogarty (C, Edina High School)

This is the pick that is going to get a lot of scrutiny because the Rangers traded Evgeny Grachev to acquire this pick. So in evaluating just Fogarty (go to the Grachev post for commentary on the trade), the Rangers got themselves a skilled center who, according to Kirk Luedeke, is a bit underrated. but has some serious long term potential. Fogarty is definitely a project pick, but the work ethic is second to none. This kid lives to play the game, and will do everything in his power to make it professionally. He competed in the USHL this year after finishing high school, where he was a little over matched against kids much bigger and more mature than him. Standing at 6’1″, 195 lbs, Fogarty is no small kid, but needs time to mature and develop. Although he appears to be a project pick, he has some high potential.

Fourth Round (#106) – Michael St. Croix (C, Edmonton Oil Kings – WHL)

St. Croix is another guy who is a great skater with terrific hands. He has a great release on his shot as well, making him a great offensive threat. The knock on St. Croix is that he sometimes lacks concentration and desire in the defensive end, which caused him to slide in the eyes of scouts. St. Croix is very small (5’11″. 163 lbs), but that didn’t scare people away. There were initially rumblings of him potentially sneaking into the first round, so this may be a potential steal of a pick for the Rangers. That is, if St. Croix continues to show he actually cares about playing in all three zones.

Fifth Round (#134) – Shane McColgan (RW, Kelowna Rockets – WHL)

This is a great pick by the Rangers. McColgan is like lightning on ice, and has hands that can keep up with his speed. The kid was initially thought to be a potential top-ten pick, but a slow start and worries about his size (5’8″, 168 lbs) saw his stock drop drastically. He didn’t really increase his production in the WHL form his rookie season (where he scored 25 goals), which is a trait you like to see from kids playing Canadian Juniors. McColgan is a pick with serious potential and serious offensive flair. He reminds me of a smaller Scott Glennie.

Fifth Round (#136) – Samuel Noreau (D, Baie-Comeau Drakkar – QMJHL)

This kid is big and tough. Standing at 6’5″ and 215 lbs, Noreau is just plain old mean. The kid doesn’t have much, if any, offensive skill, but he is big, tough, nasty, and could be a potential bottom pairing defensive defenseman if he works on his skating. Skating is generally an issue with big defensemen, so that isn’t as much of a surprise or a detriment as some might think.

Sixth Round (#172) – Peter Ceresnak (D, Dukla Trencin – Slovakia)

Another big, stay at home type defenseman, Ceresnak is a bit more tame than Noreau, but equally as physical. Ceresnak plays his game “like a freight train”, lining up players for hits all over the ice. Like most big guys (6’2″, 200 lbs), he needs to work on his skating. Also, like most physical guys, he gets caught out of position looking for the big hit.