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Rangers Draft Recap - Bold, Yes, Wise, Unsure + Staal/Girardi |
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So as I am watching the first part of the draft unfold, I am thinking two things. 1) with Gudbranson gone at 3 to Florida, Johansen at 4 to Columbus, Niederreiter fifth to the Isles, Connolly sixth to TB, Skinner, seventh to Carolina, Burmistrov eighth to Atlanta and Granlund ninth to Minnesota, several players I would have liked are gone. However, we have a choice from Fowler, Gormley, Forbort, Tarasenko, Bjugstad, Watson, Edem, Campbell and McIlrath, so it will be interesting to see which way we go. 2) Personally, I am watching the clock going to the other teams, make your pick fast so I can see and post the pick before the Sabbath. On the second part, the pick was made just in time. On the first, I go, wait, really did I hear that name. No, really. It's not a joke or mispronunciation? I even check a few sites quickly to make sure it was McIlrath and lo and behold, it really was.
Ok, now that I have had nearly two days to process the pick, here is what I think. It's clear that the Dan Carcillo fight with Marian Gaborik had a bigger impact that we even knew. With Dan Girardi and the rest of the Rangers fiddling like Nero - while Rome, in this case, Gaborik - burned, the organization must have decided that that type of action would never happen again. The Rangers made one step to rectify the situation, importing Jody Shelley at the deadline last year (and please re-sign him already) but that must not have been enough. Management must have said we need a Beukeboom type on the back line to prevent our skilled players from being taken advantage of ever again. Philly made a similar move with getting in players of that ilk to protect their scorers in the 70s, and while I am not advocating a return to frontier justice, there always will be a place for a physical, take no prisoners player, as seen by Pronger's impact in this year's playoffs and Scott Stevens in the past.
On McIlrath. Would he have been the player I selected at 10, likely not, but for all the talk, and I am included in this conversation, of trading down, rumor is that Dallas wanted him at 11 as well as Edmonton was looking to move up to 15 to take him. While neither of those is a reason to take McIlrath, it's clear he was the Rangers target from the get go as seen by the team having a jersey for him, although they may have had multiple player jerseys with them. There seems to be little doubt that McIlrath would have gone between 11-15, higher than first projected, the question is do you take him over Fowler and Gormley? For the rest of his career, McIlrath will be compared to those two by nearly everyone, especially those of us in NY, as well as the offensemen selected after him like Watson etc.
McIlrath's nicknames, the Undertaker and Freight Train from Winnipeg, should clearly explain the type of player he is. But to label him a goon would be unfair, as he does have some offensive skills, though that won't be what he is known for. McIlrath had a productive second half of the season with 16 of his 24 points after Jan. 1 plus he has quick feet and is able to make the breakout pass from his zone. Lindsey Berra wrote on ESPN.com, "But from a skill perspective, McIlrath has also been Moose Jaw's most improved player two years running, and the rise in his skill level has contributed directly to the rise in his stock." While I may not have taken him 10th, it's clear the Rangers viewed him as clearly filling a major need, and the more you read about him and his upside, it makes it tougher the question the pick.
For their second round pick, the Rangers went will skill over size, for the one of the rare times in the draft, selecting Christian Thomas. Thomas, the son of former Islanders Steve Thomas, exploded last year, scoring 41 goals after scoring just eight the year before. Thomas is a decent skater who has a quick release wrist shot and is an aggressive forechecker. He was ranked 69th by Central Skating, 85th by ISS, 84th by the Red Line Report and unranked by the Hockey News in their top-90, so he may have been a bit of reach. I was chatting with a friend last night and said I wish the Rangers had moved down to get a few more picks and then selected Thomas, but it was pointed out that Clark has a good track record and Thomas is a late-bloomer and riser, like several other Rangers' picks. If Christian ends up anywhere near as good as his dad, I will be ecstatic.
The lack of a third round pick was glaring, as I would have loved the Rangers to try and trade up and get Kabanov, warts and all, given his talent level. The Isles, who in my view along with Anaheim and Florida, had very solid drafts, selected him and we will get to see up close and personal his development given the rivalry with the Blueshirts.
In the fourth, the Rangers once again went for size, grabbing Andrew Yogan out of that hotbed of hockey Boca Raton, Florida. Yogan, who scored 25 goals, finished with 55 points, and totaled 97 penalty minutes in 63 games this past season. He was ranked 61th by Central Skating, 65th by ISS, 89th by the Red Line Report and 69th by the Hockey News in their top-90, so he is a nice bargain at 100. Yogan is viewed as a solid play-maker, who also possesses a powerful shot, and at one time was viewed as possible late-first, early second-rounder. That view changed following a concussion from a cheap shot, after which, Yogan's physical play declined. If he is able to regain that edge, Yogan, who has some questions about his ability to score at the next level, will be a steal and is one of my favorite picks in this draft while filling a clear need down the middle for the Blueshirts.
In the fifth round, the Rangers stuck with their theme of size, adding Jason Wilson who is 6-3, 215 pounds with the 130th pick. Wilson was unranked by all the rankings bureau, so he sounds like a bit of a reach who projects to be a grinder, fourth line type player.
Entering the draft, the Rangers did have a sixth pick, having dealt it for Jyri Niemi. That changed on Day 2, as the team dealt Bobby Sanguinetti, their first round pick, 21st overall in 2006, to the Hurricanes for Washington’s second round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and a 6th round pick, 157th overall, in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. After making the deal, GM Glen Sather let everyone know how he felt about Sanguinetti, saying “He’s been around here for a few years and he’s gonna get disgruntled sooner or later. He’s a nice kid; I don’t think he’s going to fit the bill with the guys we’ve got in the lineup, and some of the kids we’ve drafted, so it’s better to move him now for picks.” Nothing like sending him off nicely Glen, but Sangs seemed to have plateaued and was not a Torts-type player, so they used the adage of a year too soon rather than a year too late in dealing him. With that pick, the Rangers went for skill this time, taking Jesper Fasth, who has blazing speed but must do a better job of getting his nose dirty as well as his finishing skills and playmaking. Fasth was unranked by The Hockey News and ISS but was ranked 33rd by Central Scouting and 110 by RLR and projects for now to be a third liner but seems to have the skill set to pan out to be a bit better than that.
In the seventh round, the Blueshirts once again went with - you guessed it - size taking 6-5, 221 pound winger Randy McNaught. McNaught, like Wilson in the fifth, is a bruising winger who has improved marketedly in the past year and the Rangers are counting on that rise continuing. Like McIlrath, McNaught has no problem dropping the gloves and adds to the Rangers toughness.
Overall, the Rangers went for size over skill, but did a decent job of mixing in some skill players. The draft will be determined by how McIlrath pans out and if Thomas can be the sniper the team desperately needs. For now, and we all know drafts really can't be evaluated for 3-4 years, I give the Rangers a C+ with the potential for a higher grade down the road but disappointed that the team did not try and maximize picks. In addition, I hope Sangs does not end up helping Carolina make up for the stupid move when they soured on Jack Johnson and dealt him for Tim Gleason too soon.
Moving from the draft to two of the team's bigger RFA, news on the Dan Girardi and Marc Staal fronts are certainly not positive. Larry Brooks reports today that Girardi wants a four-year deal for at least $3 million per, and if he just signs a one-year arb deal, he becomes a UFA next year. The Rangers can ill-afford to nickel and dime Girardi, who took a step forward defensively last year and was up there in blocked shots. If Sather decides to let Girardi, whose two year, $3.1 million deal expired at the end of the season, him walk or try and sign him next year, that price could rise by close to a mil a year, given the current marketplace.
On Staal, who lacks the arb rights that Girardi has, they appear to be even further apart with Sather locking horns with Bobby Orr, Staal's agent. With Sather referencing the poor negotiations that took place with Brandon Dubinsky as a type of baseline, all signs point to this dragging on until training camp. I hope I am wrong and Sather negotiates earlier, where a four-year, $14-16 mil deal seems to be reasonable given the jump Staal took as a lockdown defender last season, but don't count on it. Sather has proven to be intractable when he thinks he is right, and it sure looks like he believes he is in the right here. With the Girardi and Staal negotiations seemingly stalled, pun intended, getting Ryan McDonagh signed takes on even greater importance.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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