New York Rangers Draft Review

[Commish Bub(NYR)]

As the weeks-long EHEC Draft Carnival (aka "Woodstock LA" or "Draftstock") breaks up and the GMs head back to their armed compounds, Rangers GM Pat Webber takes a few moments to reflect on his selections.

First of all, let me say that this was a very deep draft. While there may only be a few legitimate all-stars taken this year, there were NHL-caliber players throughout the field, and we had decisions to make with each pick. Having said that, we decided to keep our first pick at #26, despite several tempting offers to deal it away. We also decided not to try to move up in the round, having few young, tradeable assets to offer anyone. So with our first pick we took C/LW Mikael Salmivirta. CSB scouts considered him a two-way forward, but we think he has more offensive upside than as just a checking winger. He needs to fill out, and is at least a year away from contributing, but we see him as a valuable penalty killer and possibly a second-line scorer.

We had no second round pick, having traded it to Florida early in the season for Cory Stillman. (Despite the talent still available, I continue to believe that was a good deal for us in the end.) Instead, we had three picks in the third round, thanks to our trade with Dallas (sending Brandon Dubinsky to the Stars for the picks and Brian Sutherby). Our first selection, at #70, was Swedish winger Sebastian Wannstrom. Although not blessed with the defensive chops of Salmivirta, we still think Seb can become a first line winger. Like most young players, he's a little inconsistent, but he could still develop quickly. With that in mind, he'll likely play in Hartford next year. Our next pick was at #76, and we stayed in Scandinavia with our selection of RW/C Iiro Pakarinen. I have a weakness for defensive forwards, and Pakarinen definitely brings that to the table. His skating will need some work, and he's probably a good two to three years away from playing on Broadway, but we see him as a third or fourth line checker with some offensive ability. We took a bit of a flier with our pick at #79, taking Russian defenseman Bogdan Kiselevich. As he stands right now, he'll be a fringe defensive blueliner. However, he's made major strides in his game this past year, and our scouts think he'll get even better over the next two years. He doesn't have shutdown D upside, but he could become a solid third pair guy for years to come.

We didn't pick again until #145 in the fifth round, where we took a local boy, winger Kenneth Agostino. He's only in high school, so he's got a lot of development to do, but we like his potential. He has some decent offensive upside, and could feature one day as a PP specialist or on a lower line as some secondary scoring. His defense and skating need work, however.

With our final two picks, we continued adding forward depth. In the sixth round, at #175, we picked up C/LW Santtu Huhtala. He's a bit of a brawler, unusual for a Finn, but has some defensive upside and could bring some toughness to the lineup, especially once he starts eating. Our final pick, at #205 in the seventh round, was C/LW Jason Clark. Yes, another checking forward: I really feel you can't have too many of these guys in your system. Plus, where we were picking there wasn't a ton of offense available anyway. Clark will probably never be more than a fringe NHLer, but he could find his way. His major flaw right now is his intensity, and he needs to bring it every night.

So there you go. No major standouts, but I feel we added to our depth, and there's the real possibility that five or six of these guys could make it as NHL regulars one day. Time will tell.


+10 CH and +10 PO to Jason Clark