Corey Pronman details what to expect from the New York Rangers\u2019 new prospects and how they fit into the farm system.<\/p>\n
2025 Draft Grade: C+<\/p>\n
Malcolm Spence\u2019s stock faded hard this season with his performance in Erie after coming into the year as a potential top-20 pick. I still like him. The offense will likely never be noteworthy, but he skates well, plays hard and could have secondary production. He has a clear path to becoming a middle-six winger. I don\u2019t see any other pick in this group that excites me, although I am intrigued by Sean Barnhill, who they picked after Spence. He\u2019s very toolsy, and I wonder how he will do in an environment with more ice time.<\/p>\n
Draft Class<\/p>\n
43. Malcolm Spence, LW, Erie Otters (OHL)<\/strong><\/p>\n September 22, 2006 | 6′ 2″ | 201 pounds<\/p>\n Tier: Middle of the lineup player<\/p>\n Skating: NHL average Player comparable:<\/strong> Ivan Barbashev<\/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 the prior season multiple times. Spence\u2019s compete is excellent and is 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>\n 70. Sean Barnhill, RHD, Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)<\/strong><\/p>\n January 8, 2007 | 6′ 5″ | 214 pounds<\/p>\n Tier: Has a chance to play games<\/p>\n Skating: Below NHL average Analysis:<\/strong> Barnhill played limited minutes on a strong Dubuque team in his first full USHL season. Barnhill\u2019s play and numbers won\u2019t inspire much confidence, but he\u2019s listed due to his traits and pro potential if he develops well. He\u2019s a nearly 6-foot-5 defenseman who skates well for a big man. On his best shifts, he shows legit skill with the puck and a mean streak without it. However, those best shifts were quite infrequent this season. He\u2019s worth a shot because if it clicks, he has the tools of some players who will go a lot higher than him.<\/p>\n 89. Artyom Gonchar, LHD, Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk (MHL)<\/strong><\/p>\n October 25, 2006 | 6′ 0″ | 143 pounds<\/p>\n Analysis:<\/strong> Gonchar had a productive year in the MHL, putting up significant numbers for a defenseman. He\u2019s a talented player with the skating and skill for the higher levels. He has a smooth, powerful stride and gets up in the attack well. He makes creative plays with the puck and has a strong point shot. He should get his points versus men, but I\u2019m unsure how well he will defend. He doesn\u2019t give the best efforts without the puck and isn\u2019t overly physical to go with his 6-foot frame.<\/p>\n 111. Mikkel Eriksen, C, F\u00e4rjestad BK J20 (J20 Nationell)<\/strong><\/p>\n September 13, 2007 | 5′ 11″ | 185 pounds<\/p>\n 139. Zeb Lindgren, LHD, Skellefte\u00e5 AIK J20 (J20 Nationell)<\/strong><\/p>\n April 14, 2007 | 6′ 1″ | 198 pounds<\/p>\n Analysis:<\/strong> Lindgren has been a solid two-way defenseman at the Swedish junior level and for Sweden\u2019s U18 team. He shows some touch with the puck and can make a reliable first pass. Lindgren plays hard and is a steady junior defender. His skating is just OK, though, and given that his skill isn\u2019t top-end, I wonder how well his game will translate up levels due to his feet.<\/p>\n 166. Samuel Jung, RW, K\u00e4rp\u00e4t U20 (U20 SM-sarja)<\/strong><\/p>\n May 18, 2006 | 6′ 3″ | 172 pounds<\/p>\n 171. Evan Passmore, RHD, Barrie Colts (OHL)<\/strong><\/p>\n December 5, 2006 | 6′ 4″ | 209 pounds<\/p>\n Tier: Has a chance to play games<\/p>\n Skating: Below NHL average Analysis:<\/strong> Passmore didn\u2019t play a ton of minutes for Barrie this season, but he\u2019s one of the more athletic players eligible for the draft. He\u2019s a 6-5 defenseman who moves quite well for his size. He can skate pucks up ice very well. He closes on checks at a high level due to his range. He\u2019s also very physical, which leads to a lot of stops defensively. Whether he has any puck play is an open question. He creates some offense with his feet, but he doesn\u2019t make any plays and fights the puck at times.<\/p>\n 203. Felix F\u00e4rhammar, LHD, \u00d6rebro HK J20 (J20 Nationell)<\/strong><\/p>\n April 11, 2007 | 6′ 1″ | 185 pounds<\/p>\n Beat writer\u2019s analysis<\/p>\n New York did not have a first-round pick after the J.T. Miller trade. Leading up to draft day, general manager Chris Drury decided to give Pittsburgh this year\u2019s first-round pick (No. 12), which the Penguins acquired from Vancouver, rather than surrendering his unprotected 2026 first and keeping this year\u2019s selection. That limited the Rangers\u2019 ability to pick any of the draft\u2019s highest-regarded prospects.<\/p>\n New York still managed to add a few interesting players to its middle-of-the-pack prospect pool. Malcolm Spence fell out of the first round despite being ranked in the top 30 by both\u00a0Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler, and the Rangers managed to grab him at No. 43. That\u2019s an exciting player for New York to add to its prospect pool. Wing isn\u2019t the organization\u2019s biggest position of need, but grabbing someone who could\u2019ve gone in the first round is a win for New York.<\/p>\n The Rangers took a pair of defensemen in the third round: Sean Barnhill at No. 70 and Artyom Gonchar, nephew of longtime NHLer Sergei Gonchar, at No. 89. Those two join EJ Emery and Drew Fortescue as defensemen in the Rangers\u2019 prospect pool. The Rangers finally took a center in the fourth round, selecting Mikkel Eriksen, a Norwegian, in the fourth round.<\/p>\n Swedish defenseman Zeb Lindgren (No. 139), wing Samuel Jung (No. 166), defenseman Evan Passmore (No. 171) and Felix F\u00e4rhammar (No. 203) rounded out the Rangers\u2019 draft. \u2014\u00a0Peter Baugh<\/p>\n (Photo of Spence: Kevin Sousa \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Corey Pronman details what to expect from the New York Rangers\u2019 new prospects and how they fit into…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":24060,"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-24059","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\/114765768735716528","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24059","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=24059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: High-end<\/p>\n
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: Below NHL average
Compete: NHL average<\/p>\n
Puck skills: Below NHL average
Hockey sense: Below NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average<\/p>\n