Top Prospects: The NHL System Rankings

#24: New York Rangers

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Number of Ranked Prospects: 27

Number of Forwards in the Top 50: 1

Number of Defensemen in the Top 50: 1

Average Rank of Top 10 Prospects in Pool: 160th

Top Forward Prospect in The System: Gabe Perreault (7th)

Top Defenseman Prospect in The System: EJ Emery (21st)

System Score: 2.5

The quality of prospect pools leaps up a full level from the island to the city, where the New York Rangers bring some true top-end talent to the system evaluations. In 2018, the Rangers sent out a well-publicized letter to the fans announcing a rebuild of the franchise, promising both pain and success in a journey to construct a league championship team. Since 2018, the Rangers have picked in the first round a total of nine times, pulling four full-time NHL starters for the team from the 2018-2020 drafts, including first-overall pick Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, K'Andre Miller and Braden Schneider. More recent drafts have yet to yield NHL fruit, but the team has managed to stock the pipeline with some highly skilled, talented prospects on the cusp of playing for the big club.

The Top of The Pool:

The Rangers used their 23rd-overall pick of the 2023 draft to select a player that the Hockey Prophets had ranked 7th in the draft class, and in his post-draft year Gabe Perreault did everything necessary to prove that he should have been a top-ten pick. Perreault for most of the season was the NCAA's leading scorer until an injury late in the season caused him to miss several games and drop down in the scoring race. He finished the year with 60 points in 39 games (19 goals, 41 assists) and was a key distributor for one of college hockey's best lines. Perreault is not a perfect NHL prospect. His build is a bit more slight--5'11, 165 pounds) than many teams might like, and although he is a crafty skater he does not have elite top-end speed. However, Perreault reads the game around him so well, gets to spots on the ice to make a difference, and can put pucks into spaces or onto sticks to give his teammates the opportunities they need to score. Perreault decided to stay another year at Boston College, and with his star linemates Will Smith and Ryan Leonard moving on to professional hockey, Perreault will have an excellent opportunity to show that he was more than just a piece of the puzzle, and prove that he is a leader and offense generator.

Last summer, the Rangers selected another USNTDP player, but for this pick they went with the stay-at-home defenseman EJ Emery. With an excellent NHL frame at 6'3, 185 pounds (he will fill into that frame with more muscled and strength) and high-quality defensive awareness, Emery is the type of player that NHL coaches can send out on the ice against the opponents top threats and know that he will minimize their scoring chances and eliminate threats. He is not much of an offensive threat at this point in career, though he does have smooth passing out of the defensive zone.

The only other Rangers prospect in the top 100 is the 21-year-old left winger Brennan Othmann. Othmann was the Rangers first-round pick (16th overall) in 2021. After playing his draft year in the Swiss league while COVID was shutting down leagues in North America, Othmann returned to the OHL to play three more seasons in Major Junior. He became a professional player last season, and spent most of the year in the AHL, where he posted 49 points and logged 65 penalty minutes in 67 games. Othmann is a no-nonsence type who plays hard, always looking for the attack. He looks to be rounding into a quality middle-six winger who can add depth scoring in the NHL.

The Rangers' system has some good depth, with players like the huge Dylan Roobroeck, the steady Brody Lamb and Ryder Korczak who could all see some time in the NHL although each has limitations they will need to overcome to get there. 

Return to the Team System Rankings

Below is the full list of the New York Rangers' ranked prospects.

Top Forwards 

Top Defensemen