1. Malcolm Spence, LW<\/strong><\/p>\nSept. 22, 2006 | 6-foot-1 | 201 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 43 in 2025
Tier: Middle of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: High-end<\/p>\n
Analysis:<\/strong> Spence struggled at times in the first half of the season, but his game started improving offensively as the year went along. He has a great track record as well, including being a top player for Canada\u2019s U18 team multiple times. Spence\u2019s compete is excellent and the calling card of his game. He\u2019s a tenacious worker who wins a ton of battles and gets to many pucks due to his length, speed and effort. He comes back hard and is a great two-way forward. Spence has good offensive skills and sense and can create chances with pace, but I wouldn\u2019t call him a dynamic or overly creative player with the puck. His finishing touch is, at times, a minor question, but he gets a lot of greasy-area goals. He can be a very likable middle-six winger who coaches will use a lot.<\/p>\n2. Brennan Othmann, LW<\/strong><\/p>\nJan. 5, 2003 | 6-feet | 181 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 16 in 2021
Tier: Middle of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: Below NHL average
Puck skills: Above NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average
Shot: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis:<\/strong> Othmann was an important player again for Hartford, scoring at a high rate in the AHL. He got called up to the Rangers, where he had struggles at times with the NHL pace. Othmann is a highly skilled forward. He has great hands and offensive sense, and a shot that can finish chances from a distance. He plays quite hard, too. He\u2019s a physical and competitive forward who can frustrate opponents. His skating isn\u2019t the best, and if he were to miss, it would be due to a lack of speed in his game. I think the rest of his play is good enough that he can be a middle-six winger.<\/p>\n3. E.J. Emery, D<\/strong><\/p>\nMarch 30, 2006 | 6-foot-3 | 185 pounds | Shoots right<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 30 in 2024
Tier: Middle of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: Above NHL average
Puck skills: Below NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average
Shot: Below NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis:<\/strong> Emery played regular ice time for North Dakota as a freshman, although he only recorded one point all season. He is a strong NHL prospect because of his tools. He\u2019s 6-foot-3 and skates very well. Emery is strong on gaps and retrievals, breaks up a lot of plays, plays hard on his checks and has the potential to make a lot of NHL stops. He can attack with his feet and often jumps up into the rush. His puck play is a major question, though. There are times his first pass can be decent and times it\u2019s unreliable. He\u2019s a clear NHL defender, but he will need to make a steady outlet pass to play in the league full-time, and I would say that aspect of his game is on the bubble.<\/p>\n4. Gabe Perreault, RW<\/strong><\/p>\nMay 7, 2005 | 5-foot-11 | 165 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 23 in 2023
Tier: Middle of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: Below NHL average
Puck skills: Above NHL average
Hockey sense: Above NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis:<\/strong> Perreault was a top forward in Hockey East again and at the World Juniors. He\u2019s an extremely skilled and intelligent winger. He makes highly creative and unique dekes and passes with the puck at a high rate, both off the perimeter and in small areas. His puck game is clear NHL power-play quality, and he will score as a pro. The issues with Perreault\u2019s game are his 5-foot-11 frame and lack of foot speed. He\u2019s a competitive player, though, who gets to the inside even though he\u2019s not highly physical. He projects as a middle-six winger.<\/p>\n5. Carey Terrance, C<\/strong><\/p>\nMay 10, 2005 | 6-foot-1 | 187 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 59 in 2023
Tier: Projected to play NHL games<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis:<\/strong> Terrance is a strong skating forward. He has the edge work and speed for higher levels and can skate by junior defenders routinely. He has good hands and can create offense off the rush. I don\u2019t think his vision is a selling point and he\u2019s more of a goal-scorer, but Terrance makes enough plays. His compete is solid and he can kill penalties. Terrance won\u2019t ever stand out in any one area, but he has versatility in his style of play and he can play center or wing. He could be a bottom-six forward.<\/p>\n6. Noah Laba, C<\/strong><\/p>\nAug. 4, 2003 | 6-foot-2 | 192 pounds | Shoots right<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 111 in 2022
Tier: Projected to play NHL games<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: Above NHL average
Hockey sense: Below NHL average
Compete: NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis:<\/strong> Laba has developed very well in his three years at school, turning into a legit NHL prospect. He\u2019s a tall center with NHL speed and puck skills. When Laba is bringing the puck in transition, he\u2019s quite dangerous and has the hands to beat pro defenders one-on-one with pace. He gives a solid effort, being a reliable two-way center who can kill penalties, wins battles and gets to the net to create offense. Laba isn\u2019t the most natural playmaker and can force a lot of plays. He projects as a middle-six forward with a chance to be a third-line center if he stays down the middle.<\/p>\n7. Scott Morrow, D<\/strong><\/p>\nNov. 1, 2002 | 6-foot-2 | 194 pounds | Shoots right<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 40 in 2021
Tier: Projected to play NHL games<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: Below NHL average
Shot: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis:<\/strong> Morrow was impressive as a rookie pro, making an impact with the Chicago Wolves and being one of the top rookie D in the AHL. He\u2019s a strong-skating, highly skilled defender who likes to attack with his skill, creativity and shot. There\u2019s no doubt Morrow has the talent to score as a pro and the offensive touch and hockey sense to run a pro power play. Whether Morrow sticks in the NHL or not will come down to his defending. His compete level has historically been an issue, and coaches over the years have not shown much trust in him. It\u2019s possible his free-wheeling style could work if the offense is just incredible, though, which he showed flashes of this year.<\/p>\nHas a chance to play*<\/p>\n
Drew Fortescue has been a solid college defenseman and was a top player for USA\u2019s World Juniors team. He skates well and plays hard. The pure offense and puck play in his game will be a question for his NHL prospects, and whether he can reliably move pucks. Sean Barnhill is a very toolsy player. He didn\u2019t play much in Dubuque this season and needs to compete harder, but his size\/skating\/skill combo is NHL caliber.<\/p>\n
Nathan Aspinall, LW<\/strong><\/p>\nMarch 30, 2006 | 6-foot-7 | 194 pounds | Shoots left | Drafted: No. 159 in 2024<\/p>\n
Sean Barnhill, D<\/strong><\/p>\nJan. 8, 2007 | 6-foot-6 | 214 pounds | Shoots right | Drafted: No. 70 in 2025<\/p>\n
Jaroslav Chmelar, RW<\/strong><\/p>\nJuly 20, 2003 | 6-foot-5 | 220 pounds | Shoots right | Drafted: No. 144 in 2021<\/p>\n
Jackson Dorrington, D<\/strong><\/p>\nApril 13, 2004 | 6-foot-2 | 192 pounds | Shoots left | Drafted: No. 176 in 2022<\/p>\n
Drew Fortescue, D<\/strong><\/p>\nApril 28, 2005 | 6-foot-2 | 176 pounds | Shoots left | Drafted: No. 90 in 2023<\/p>\n
Evan Passmore, D<\/strong><\/p>\nDec. 5, 2006 | 6-foot-5 |209 pounds | Shoots right | Drafted: No. 171 in 2025<\/p>\n
Dylan Roobroeck, C<\/strong><\/p>\nJuly 27, 2004 | 6-foot-7 | 205 pounds | Shoots left | Drafted: No. 178 in 2023<\/p>\n
* Listed in alphabetical order<\/p>\n
Player eligibility: All skaters who are 22 years old or younger as of Sept. 15, 2025, regardless of how many NHL games they\u2019ve played, are eligible. Player heights and weights are taken from the NHL.<\/p>\n
Tool grades: Tool grades are based on a scale with six separate levels, with an eye toward how this attribute would grade in the NHL (poor, below-average, average, above-average, high-end and elite). \u201cAverage\u201d on this scale means the tool projects as NHL average, which is meant as a positive, not a criticism. Skating, puck skills, hockey sense and compete for every projected NHL player are graded. Shot grades are only included if a shot is notably good or poor.<\/p>\n
Tier definitions: Tiers are meant to show roughly where in an average NHL lineup a player projects to slot in.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
(Illustration: Will Tullos \/ The Athletic. Photo: Michael Miller\u00a0\/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Rangers have several high-quality young wingers they\u2019ve drafted in recent years that could all play in the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":177094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,1302,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-177093","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-new-york-rangers","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkcity","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115095263313739558","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}