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NYR take Braden Schneider at 19, Day 2 tmw, Strome, Lundqvist, Jan 1 start?
October 7, 2020, 12:21 AM ET [495 Comments]
Jan Levine
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The Rangers, after selecting Alexis Lafreniere first overall, sat at 22 in the first round. Following New Jersey's 18th pick, the Blueshirts dealt their 22nd and 72nd picks to Calgary's 19th selection to grab Braden Schneider, a 6-foot-2 | 202 pounds, right-hand shot blueliner from Brandon in the WHL. As speculated initially, and reported shortly after the pick, see below, New York moved to grab Schneider away from New Jersey, who were poised to take him at 20. The Rangers still have work to do tomorrow on the second day of the draft.



Full first round:




If the look and reaction by JD is any indication, the Rangers are ecstatic with this pick. Plus, hearing how Bob McKenzie described him, the fanbase will eventually love him. The Blueshirts could have stayed pat and grabbed Henrik Lapierre, who went to Washington at 22, Connor Zary, selected by Calgary at 24, Ridly Greig, Ottawa's third, first-round pick at 28, Brendan Brisson, nabbed by Vegas at 29 or Mavrik Bourque, taken off the board at 30 by Dallas. Instead, they parted with one of their two third rounders, despite lacking a second rounder, to move up and grab Schneider.

Here's the prevailing view on Schneider. By the time he is ready in about three or four years, Jacob Trouba's NMC becomes a modified NTC, which takes place leading into the 2024-25 season, and Tony DeAngelo, if signed to a 2-3 year deal, will likely no longer be in NYC. If Schneider is ready after three years, he gets to learn from Trouba before a year before possibly assuming the mantle of a top-pair blueliner. The expectation is likely to pair Schneider with K'andre Miller, allowing Miller to utilize his offensive gifts with a more "defensive blueliner" that can cover up for him. Future Considerations ranked Schneider as one of if not the best defensive blueliner in the draft, feeling he can be a PK stalwart and go head-to-head with the top forwards. His ability to play physical, use his stick to blunt an attack and angle players away from top chances are his main attributes.

I quite likely would have gone with one of the forwards, especially seeing how some of the skilled centers slipped. But felt that Scheider could be an option. Great job by deddie in the mock draft, who took Schneider with this number pick for Calgary.





Quick high-level snippets on Schneider:








Scouting Reports:

Cory Pronman: Ranked Schneider 25th

19. New York Rangers: Braden Schneider, D, Brandon-WHL, Sept. 20, 2001

Schneider may not overly excite you upon an initial look at his stats, and it’s taken me a while to come around to him, but he’s grown on me a lot over the past two seasons. I see a player with a lot of assets and few holes in his skill set. He’s a 6-foot-2, right-handed defenseman who can skate well. He can rush pucks and close gaps well. Schneider moves the puck very well out of the defensive zone, showing great vision and patience on his outlets. He defends well due to his feet, but also doesn’t shy away from playing the body and knocking players off pucks. He has some offensive blue line touch, but he’s probably not going to be a power play guy in the NHL. He moves it at a clear NHL level, though, to where I think he could take a regular even strength shift and help his team’s possession game without needing to be sheltered by his coach.

NHL scout on Schneider: “He’s mobile, he’s hard to play against, he can make a very good first pass. The offense is never going to pop with him, but he has a lot of elements in his game that will translate to the NHL.”

Pronman’s thoughts: Schneider was the last of the consensus top-four defenders in this draft available. I like him a lot and see a lot of things that will translate to the NHL. He’s a big right-shot defender who is mobile, kills rushes and can move the puck. I think he can become a quality top-four defenseman and adds to a rich pipeline in New York. Given the Rangers’ depth on the right side, they can afford to take their time with him and Nils Lundkvist.




Chris Peters, ESPN - ranked Schneider 18th
Scouting report: Schneider can control the net front both physically and with excellent anticipation. Schneider always seems to find himself in the right position, making good reads in the defensive zone and keeping a good gap on the rush. The offensive elements of his game are more understated, but he jumps into plays and distributes well. -- Peters

Team fit: The Rangers gave up a third-round pick to move up three spots, as they clearly fell in love with drafting an in-your-face, rugged defenseman. He is a nice complement to Alexis Lafreniere, who also plays a physical brand of hockey. Schneider, who has cited Shea Weber as his role model, loves to lay out big hits and should endear himself to fans at Madison Square Garden. -- Kaplan

Recruites - ranked Scheider 20th
When it comes to ranking Schneider, there appears to be a tale of two philosophies in the scouting world. Many see him bringing enough skill and intangibles to be a top-four NHL defenceman, while some are wary that he’ll never play above the bottom pairing due to his limitations.

“He's a good defender, but when he has puck possession under pressure, it's not great,” said one scout who wouldn’t draft him in the first round. “He doesn't really have the puck-carrying option. Passing options are limited; he just sort of gets rid of it...that's a little concerning. “I like him though; he's hard, he's big, moves well. But I'm afraid with Schneider...he's a four in your projection as a bestcase scenario but he will probably be a five. Picking a dman with top-five potential in the top 20 or even 30 is not great.”

Fortunately for Schneider, the majority of scouts don’t hold that view, and he’s still a decent bet to be selected somewhere between 13 and 25 on Friday night. “You likely have to take him a little higher than you would really want to considering his lack of offensive upside, but to get that type of player, simply put, you've got to take him earlier than normal,” offered another scout who saw Brandon play six times. “I think he does a lot of good things. I think his offence is sneaky better than people think. There's lots there...the natural edge that he plays with, and then the defending. That's the type of guy at playoff time a lot of teams are searching for.”

One scout suggests Schneider’s 40 point season was an anomaly. “He's not going to be a point producer; let's get that out of the way. I don't care what his totals were. By committee he did okay; he gets put in a lot of offensive situations because they don't have anybody else.”


Draft Analyst: ranked Schenider 35th
A physical presence on the blue line who can counter quickly thanks to his impressive speed and quick thinking, Schneider is a prototypical western Canadian defenseman who relies on poise, smart positioning, and punishing hits to neutralize opposing rushes. Schneider patrols the neutral zone like a shark and has a high success rate when he decides to step up into a play. You rarely see an opponent try to beat him 1-on-1, and they certainly make an effort to maintain awareness when Schneider’s on the ice in order to avoid one of his patented open-ice hits.

On the puck, Schneider is more of a shoot-first defenseman who likes to carry the puck up ice for a dump-in or join as a trailer rather than curl and attempt impressive cross-ice or diagonal set-ups. Still, Schneider enters the zone cleanly most of the time and his speed and sturdy build seem to force opponents well off their line. His d-to-d passes are crisp and accurate while spread wide, and deliveries in tight always seem to have the right touch — you rarely see Schneider put a teammate in a compromising position to save his own bacon from an aggressive forechecker or pressure at his point.

A noteworthy aspect of Schneider’s skating when it pertains to rushing the puck is how effortless his backskating can look in the event he has to immediately transition back to defense. Schneider may be up ice a lot, but he more than makes up for risky behavior by closing fast to neutralize a counterattack. Nonetheless, he stays involved on offense by keeping his feet moving and reacting properly to puck travel, and opponents have to mark him as a high-slot threat any time the puck is being worked around their end.

Schneider is a very smart defender who locks onto the puck but also senses where he’s going to be needed most. He definitely thinks one or two plays ahead but at times, and Schneider has confidence in his hands and quick feet to hold the puck in the face of pressure and walk that line to create a lane. His shot is average, but he has shown the ability to hit the net consistently and score via the wrister over the slapper. Still, his 108 shots were 40th among WHL defenders — a unimpressive number for a notable draft prospect playing at least 25 minutes a night in his third season in major junior.

A promising blueliner like Schneider knows exactly when to switch between defense and offense, and skate up ice with confidence. He uses his sturdy frame, quick thinking and long reach to his advantage, and he is a major problem solver for his coach in situations like the penalty kill, where Schneider can be an unforgiving adversary to challenge for net-front superiority. He also times his releases from the low slot in conjunction with his partner’s positioning. All these aspects make it understandable why Schneider is viewed as a legitimate first-round candidate, but infrequent game-breaking instances place him outside the top tier of first-year eligible defenders.


Draftsite: ranked Schneider 15th
“Big strong defender who has some nasty sprinkled on top. Will never be mistaken for a new age defenseman, he does make smart decisions as an attacker on both the power play and even strength. This big man is good in his pivots, an excellent puck mover, and a crisp passer in transition. He has no qualms about jumping into the play, but he makes the most impact as a devastating checker and smart defensive zone player who has an active stick that disrupts the passing lanes.

Is smart and strong in the neutral zone but absolutely at home in his defensive zone. Is developing some offensive upside which might dispel the opinion that he is a big mobile stay at home defender and just that. Schnieder’s was a stay at home defender, but was then asked to carry a bigger load offensively and he has stepped up in his offensive game with aggressive carries on odd man breaks and use of his big shot. At this point, Braden Schneider hasn't worked out the best option part of his puck possessions in the attack zone, so he has to read and build better vision to be in tune with the on-ice give and takes that occur instantaneously.

Far from a finished product, but there is plenty there to work with. He can one hand push the defender out of the play, cross body check him, or physically rock him to make a play and does.He still lands his big hits, and is noticeable in his quickness in defensive zone retrievals by way of simple transition plays out. Far from a finished product, but there is plenty there to work with. He can one hand push the defender out of the play, cross body check him, or physically rock him to make a play and does.

There is a calm reserve that tempers his aggression, in the same way that in his prime Brent Seabrook took care of business. Stays inside the rules and handles his business. Schnieder's physicality and aggression is of the vintage Brent Seabrook type, where it isn't as overt when he exerts it.”


With having dealt their second round pick to Carolina in the Adam Fox and third rounder to move up and grab Schneider, New York next picks at 92 in the third round. Their other selections are at 103 in round 4, 134 in round 5, 165 in round 6 and 196, 197 and 206 in round 7. With Ryan Strome not having received his QO yet and the deadline Wednesday at 5pm, speculation is that Strome could be in play for draft picks, enabling the Rangers to avoid the QO. If that occurs, the Blueshirts will need to find a second line center in free agency. Until we see what transpires, view this as pure speculation, but GM Jeff Gorton's decision not to indicate who was qualified and the bonus ramifications on the salary cap (see Frank Seravalli's tweet and Larry Brooks' column below) puts Strome's status clearly on tenuous ground.





Lundqvist to the Caps? Based on news filtering out, the strong money is that Henrik Lundqvist, bought out by the Rangers last week, will sign with Washington, their division rival .Washington is believed to be moving on from Braden Holtby and looking for a solid veteran presence to pair with Ilya Samsonov in net. Hank gets to stay relatively close to home and exact a little revenge on his former club. Granted, nothing is final as he can't sign unto Friday, but where there is smoke, there is fire.







January 1 start date? Originally, December 1 was the projected start date. But all of us felt that likely was a bit aggressive, given when the season ended and so much uncertain. Commissioner Gary Bettman announced Tuesday that the NHL is now targeting a New Year's Date to kick off the 2020-21 campaign.



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