B-<\/a><\/p>\nPlayer Ranking1. Alberts \u0160mits, D<\/p>\n
Dec. 2, 2007 | 6-foot-3 | 205 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 5 in 2026
Tier: Top of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average
Shot: High-end<\/p>\n
Analysis: \u0160mits is a tall defenseman with impressive mobility and smarts. He can make a reliable first pass and has a big point shot, projecting to have quality amounts of offense. He isn\u2019t a super smart puck-mover, but there\u2019s enough touch in his game to project to be reliable with the puck in the NHL. He defends very well due to his length and feet, while also competing hard and being willing to play the body. He projects as a top-pairing defenseman.<\/p>\n
2. Cole Beaudoin, C<\/p>\n
April 24, 2006 | 6-foot-2 | 210 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 24 in 2024
Tier: Middle of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: Below NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: Below NHL average
Compete: High-end<\/p>\n
Analysis: Beaudoin is a very likable player. He\u2019s a tremendously hardworking center. He\u2019s constantly noticeable throughout the game in how many pucks he wins. He\u2019s quite physical and doesn\u2019t shy from getting to the tough areas of the ice and does so without taking bad penalties. He can create offense in junior, but with a somewhat heavy skating stride, the debate is in how his game will translate to the pros. He has good offensive skills and was a top OHL scorer last season, but he\u2019s not overly creative or instinctive with the puck for higher levels. Beaudoin projects as a third-line center.<\/p>\n
3. Liam Greentree, RW<\/p>\n
Jan. 1, 2006 | 6-foot-3 | 215 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 26 in 2024
Tier: Middle of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: Below NHL average
Puck skills: Above NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: NHL average
Shot: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Greentree was one of the top forwards in the OHL. He makes difficult plays often with the puck as a handler and passer and possesses high-end creativity while also having a good shot. He competes well enough and can use his size to get to the net. The main concern on Greentree is his pace. He\u2019s a so-so skater, and when the game gets fast and hard, he can fade into the background at times. He projects as a middle-six winger.<\/p>\n
4. Nathan Aspinall, LW<\/p>\n
March 30, 2006 | 6-foot-6 | 185 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 159 in 2024
Tier: Middle of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: Poor
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Aspinall was one of the best players in the OHL, taking significant steps forward as a player and prospect. He\u2019s massive at 6-foot-6 and is very skilled. His coordination for his size is quite impressive, and he makes a lot of small-man-type plays with the puck. Aspinall has continued to develop his offense and physicality, although he doesn\u2019t get to the middle of the ice as often as I would like. I\u2019ve seen worse skating guys with his length, but his feet are heavy for the NHL level. He projects as a middle-six winger.<\/p>\n
5. Malcolm Spence, LW<\/p>\n
Sept. 22, 2006 | 6-foot-1 | 190 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 43 in 2025
Tier: Middle of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: Below NHL average
Compete: High-end<\/p>\n
Analysis: 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 who plays the body often. Spence has good offensive skills 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
6. Gabe Perreault, RW<\/p>\n
May 7, 2005 | 5-foot-11 | 163 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 23 in 2023
Tier: NHL prospect<\/p>\n
Skating: Below NHL average
Puck skills: Above NHL average
Hockey sense: Above NHL average
Compete: NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Perreault had a good rookie pro season, scoring 27 points for the Rangers. Perreault is a very skilled and intelligent winger. He makes highly creative and unique dekes and passes with the puck at a high rate, both off the perimeter and in small areas. His puck game is clear NHL power-play quality, and he will score as a pro. The issues on Perreault\u2019s game are his 5-foot-11 frame and his below-average foot speed. I have concerns about his long-term projection unless the offense is so off-the-charts good, which I\u2019m on the fence about whether it will be or not.<\/p>\n
7. Tomas Chrenko, C<\/p>\n
Nov. 2, 2007 | 5-foot-11 | 172 pounds | Shoots right<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 81 in 2026
Tier: NHL prospect<\/p>\n
Skating: Above NHL average
Puck skills: Above NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: NHL average
Shot: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Chrenko has standout skill with the puck, displaying high-end creativity, vision and ability to create off the perimeter. He\u2019s a good-to-very good skater with strong speed and edge work. Chrenko isn\u2019t that big and can be pushed to the outside by stronger defenders, which will be his main issue, but he works hard enough to potentially overcome that. He\u2019s also shown he can play center, although it\u2019s debatable whether he projects as that in the NHL. His skill could get him games, but it\u2019s not a sure thing that he sticks in the league.<\/p>\n
8. Carey Terrance, C<\/p>\n
May 10, 2005 | 6-foot-0 | 178 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 59 in 2023
Tier: NHL prospect<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: Below NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Terrance is a strong skating forward. He has the edge work and speed for higher levels and can routinely skate by junior defenders. He has good hands and can create offense off the rush. I don\u2019t think his vision is a selling point, and Terrance makes very basic plays with the puck. His compete is solid and he can kill penalties. Terrance lacks a wow factor, but he\u2019s reliable and competitive enough that he could have a path to play at the bottom of a lineup.<\/p>\n
9. Dylan Roobroeck, C<\/p>\n
July 27, 2004 | 6-foot-7 | 206 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 178 in 2023
Tier: NHL prospect<\/p>\n
Skating: Poor
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: Below NHL average
Compete: NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Roobroeck is a massive center at 6-foot-7. Because of his size, he\u2019s gangly as a skater and lacks quickness for the pro game. His skating will be a major issue, but he has hands, can score goals and has some physicality in his game. Those traits give him a real chance to be a bottom-of-the-lineup forward for an NHL team.<\/p>\n
10. Mikkel Eriksen, C<\/p>\n
Sept. 13, 2007 | 5-foot-11 | 187 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 111 in 2025
Tier: NHL prospect<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Eriksen had an excellent season as a top junior scorer in Sweden and good play for both Norway\u2019s U20 and senior team. Eriksen can skate and handle the puck well. He\u2019s a smart player who makes tough plays. He creates offense in a translatable way, and he plays at the net. For a 5-foot-11 forward, he wins battles. He isn\u2019t very dynamic, but he has a chance to make it.<\/p>\n
11. EJ Emery, D<\/p>\n
March 30, 2006 | 6-foot-4 | 183 pounds | Shoots right<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 30 in 2024
Tier: NHL prospect<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: Below NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average
Shot: Below NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Emery is a 6-foot-3 defender who skates very well for his size. He\u2019s strong on gaps and retrievals, breaks up a lot of plays, plays hard on his checks, and has the potential to make a lot of stops. He can attack with his feet and often jumps up into the rush. Emery\u2019s puck play is a major question, though. There are times his first pass can be decent, and times it is unreliable. He\u2019s a clear NHL defender, but he will need to make a steady outlet to play full-time, and I would say that aspect of his game is on the bubble.<\/p>\n
12. Charlie Morrison, D<\/p>\n
Oct. 12, 2007 | 6-foot-3 | 198 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 77 in 2026
Tier: NHL prospect<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: Below NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average
Shot: Below NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Morrison is a tall, mobile defenseman who\u2019s quite physical. He kills a lot of plays with his stick and body and has strong gap control. With the puck, though, he\u2019s somewhat limited. He makes an OK outlet pass, but can fight the puck at times with his decisions and isn\u2019t a natural offensive player.<\/p>\n
13. Jacob Battaglia, RW<\/p>\n
March 17, 2006 | 6-foot-1 | 202 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 62 in 2024
Tier: NHL prospect<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: NHL average
Shot: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Battaglia is a skilled winger with a legit chance to be an offensive threat. Battaglia has the quick hands and high-end creativity to make a lot of things happen with the puck. He often beats defenders with his one-on-one play and does so with pace. He also is a strong playmaker who makes tough plays in traffic and off the perimeter. I wouldn\u2019t describe him as hard to play against, but his compete level is good enough to go with his pure offensive talent that he could be a bottom-six winger.<\/p>\n
14. Danai Shaiikov, G<\/p>\n
April 13, 2007 | 6-foot-2 | 192 pounds | Catches left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 67 in 2026
Tier: NHL prospect<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Shaiikov was up and down last season in the Q, but there\u2019s NHL talent in his quickness and athleticism. He can make NHL-caliber saves. He\u2019s a little inconsistent, and at his size I\u2019d prefer his sense to be excellent instead of just good, but he has a chance to make it.<\/p>\n
Player eligibility: All skaters who are 22 years old or younger as of Sept. 15, 2026, regardless of how many NHL games they\u2019ve played, are eligible. Player heights and weights are taken from the NHL.<\/p>\n
Tool grades: Tool grades are based on a scale with six separate levels, with an eye toward how this attribute would grade in the NHL (poor, below-average, average, above-average, high-end and elite). \u201cAverage\u201d on this scale means the tool projects as NHL average, which is meant as a positive, not a criticism. Skating, puck skills, hockey sense and compete for every projected NHL player are graded. Shot grades are only included if a shot is notably good or poor.<\/p>\n
Tier definitions: Tiers are meant to show roughly where in an average NHL lineup a player projects to slot in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Rangers have a quality prospect pool with some impressive pieces at the top. Alberts \u0160mits…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,541],"class_list":["post-323908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-rangers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}