Prospect Tracker

These guys are the future of the Rangers franchise, particularly in the cap era where home grown talent is so valuable.  Here we have listed the most promising and exciting young prospects within the New York Rangers Organization.  Included with the top 10 prospect is a brief bio, basic scouting report and their statistics.  For the rest of our list we have included their age, position, and team.  Periodically we will update and change the list to reflect mid-season performances and off-season pick-ups.

The moderators of this site use all available avenues to bring you the most accurate picture of the Rangers prospects possible.  In addition to tracking prospects stats and performance in the AHL, NCAA, OHL, QMJHL and other leagues, we watch available video and scour the web for reviews of respected hockey talent evaluators while ignoring the flawed reviews from well meaning but uninformed fans.

1- Evgeny Grachev- (Center or Wing/HT: 6-4/ WT: 220/ Born: 2-21-90 Khabarovsk, Russia/Current Team: Hartford Wolfpack-AHL)                     

- Player History: Drafted by the Rangers in the 3rd round, 75th overall, of the 2008 draft, Grachev announced his presence in North America with a stellar 08-09 OHL rookie season, earning himself Rookie of the Year honors. During that season Grachev posted an impressive 80 points with 40 goals and a plus 48 in 60 games played.  In 13 games for the Russian Junior teams Grachev has posted a solid 10 points with 4 goals.  Currently he is playing for the Hartford Wolfpack as he continues to adjust to playing in North America.  Although his is experiencing a little bit of a sophomore slump with 23 points in 52 games played, look for him to follow a similar development path that saw fellow Russian Artem Anisimov take 2 years in Hartford to fully adjust his game and make a jump to the NHL.

- Scouting Report: One of the best parts of Grachev’s game is something that you can not teach, size.  He already has a developed NHL frame and plays a power forward style.  Although his size is the center-piece of this game, Grachev also has a pro-level wrist shot to go along with above average hands.  His skating is by no means weak, but he does have to work on that aspect of his game to reach his true offensive potential.

2- Ryan McDonagh-(Defensemen/HT:6-1/WT:212/Born: 6-13-89 St. Paul Minnesota, USA/Current Team: University of Wisconsin-NCAA)                   

- Player History: Drafted by the Montreal Canadians in the 1st round, 12th overall, of the 2007 draft, McDonagh is one of two Rangers prospects on this list to be voted Minnesota’s “Mr. Hockey”.  McDonagh was a member of the U18 Team USA during the world championships in 06-07.  The 07-08 season was McDonagh’s rookie season at University of Wisconsin, and he had a solid all around year, tied for the team lead in goals by a defensemen, and was named to the WCHA All-Rookie team.    In 2009, the Rangers acquired the highly touted prospect in a trade that sent Scott Gomez to Montreal.

- Scouting Report: The best part of McDonagh’s game is his skating.  He is developing a good all around game with good size and responsible play in his own zone.  The offensive side of his game is continuing to develop but the young defensemen has offensive upside in the same way that Marc Staal does in that he makes the smart plays and avoids mistakes.  McDonagh is still very young and since the Rangers organization is deepest in terms of young defensemen, it is going to be a few years yet until we see McDonagh in the Garden.

3- Derek Stepan-(Center/HT:6-0/WT:170/Born:6-18-90 Hastings Minnesota, USA/Current Team: University of Wisconsin-NCAA)                                 

- Player History: Another Minnesota product in the Rangers system, Stepan was drafted by the Rangers in the 2nd round, 51st overall, in the 2008 draft.  Stepan had a solid Rookie season at Wisconsin in 08-09 posting 33 points in 40 games.  However, in 2010 Stepan jumped up the lists of many prospect rankings when we Captained the United States team to gold in the World Junior Championship.  In the tournament Stepan was dominating, with 14 pts in 7 games played.

- Scouting Report:  Stepan plays an all around game and has the ability to do pretty much anything on the ice.  He can pass and make plays when he needs to, but he can also put the puck in the back of the net like a lot of play-makers never really figure out how to do.  He is defensively responsible and has already shown his leadership potential by leading the USA Junior team to Gold.  Once again, this is a guy who is very young and there are a couple of very good young center ahead of him in the system, so it is going to be awhile before we see Stepan.  He and his team mate Ryan McDonagh are expected to stay at the University of Wisconsin for at least a few seasons.

4- Bobby Sanguinetti-(Defensmen/HT:6-3/WT:190/Born:2-29-88 Trenton New Jersey, USA/Current Team: Hartford Wolfpack-AHL)                     

- Player History: Sanguinetti, a Tri-State area product, was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round, 21st overall, of the 2006 draft.  He spent 4 seasons in the OHL (3 with the Owen Sound Attack/1 with the Brampton Battalion) where he put up huge offensive numbers.  In his final season in the OHL, Sanguinetti had 70 pts with 29 goals in only 61 games played.  He began playing with the Hartford Wolfpack for good to begin the 08-09 season.  Although he got off to a slow start in the AHL, Sanguinetti finished up the 08-09 season with a very solid 42 points in 78 games.  He also finished up a minus 8, and is having a similar season this year.

- Scouting Report:  Sanguinetti may follow a more traditional development path for defensemen then the recent in-flux of 19 year-olds who can keep up with the NHL game.  He has supreme offensive skills from the back end and is a very strong skater.  However, he needs to continue to develop in play in his own zone which is the only thing that has kept him out of the Rangers line-up.  He needs to grow into his frame a little more, but the fact is that forever in the NHL defensemen prospects took longer to develop then other positions an 19-20-21 year old everyday defensemen were unheard off.  Look for Sanguinetti’s game to continue to develop and don’t get frustrated as fans just because he can’t jump to the NHL as fast as Staal or Del Zotto.  He will be better in the long run for this extra time spent in the AHL learning to play better defense.

5- Chris Kreider-(Left Wing/HT:6-2/WT:200/Born:4-30-91 Boxford Massachusetts, USA/Current Team: Boston College-NCAA)

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6- Michael Sauer-(Defensemen/HT:6-3/WT:215/Born:8-7-87 Sartell Minnesota, USA/Current Team: Hartford Wolfpack-AHL)

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7- Dane Byers-(Left Wing/HT:6-3/WT:200/Born:2-21-86 Nipawin Saskatchewan, Can./Current Team: Hartford Wolfpack-AHL)

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8- Ryan Bourque-(Center/HT:5-8/WT:165/Born:1-3-91 Boxford Massachesetts, USA/Current Team: Quebec Remparts-CHL)

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9- Brodie Dupont-(Left Wing/HT:6-2/WT:210/Born:2-17-87 St. Lazare Manitoba, Can./Current Team: Hartford Wolfpack-AHL)

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10- Carl Hagelin-(Left Wing/HT:5-11/WT:175/Born:8-23-88 Sodertalje, Sweden/Current Team: University of Michigan-NCAA)

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