Steve Zipay at Blue Notes has these quotes from the first day of Prospect Camp...“We need some help right up the middle on our backline and center ice,” said John Tortorella. “It doesn’t have to be a 35-year-old veteran, it could be a kid, but you have to live with the bumps. I’m anxious to see Stepan (a center) play and see what he does, and McDonagh (a defenseman). As far as where our philosophy’s going….we want to add with our youth and not a veteran guy at the end of his career.”
...i guess Prospal's not being re-signed.
Torts added “a lot of teams were asking about our kids. There were deals to be made there, they wanted our kids; we stayed steady, we need to continue doing that. It’s not like we want to be in last place, but when you have kids in lineup---and I think we need to have more----there’s gonna be some bumps in the road. ”
...great job by the organization not giving up on it's future. Except for that whole Sanguinetti trade. But I guess he doesn't count.
Zipay also had some observations including that he felt Rangers brass would love to see Derek Stepan make the club.
...this should be an exciting week for Ranger fans to get a glimpse of the team's future or from what Torts is saying their present.
While Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants has an interesting post on Ryan McDonagh including quotes from the big defenseman who sounded like someone who was leaning towards returning to Wisconsin...
“It’d be my team and I could lead by example,” McDonagh said. “And at Wisconsin, there’s always the chance to get back to the next championship game.”
...that doesn't sound very encouraging.
Finally newyorkrangers.com has their own piece on Day 1 and are asking fans to submit questions for the Rangers prospects.
Here is video of Evgeni Grachev on Day 1...
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3 comments:
While it's tough to see the Rangers give up on a potential future PP QB in Sanguinetti, at least they didn't trade him for a washed-up veteran. Rather, they acquired picks to add to their stable of youth. This is in line with their stated philosophy of building from within. With DZ, Gilroy, Staal, Girardi, McIlrath, and hopefully Mcdonagh in the fold, it's easy to see why they let Sanguinetti go for a chance at drafting other players. While they gave up Sanguinetti, we can't fault them for giving up on youth in general in this instance.
Also, I realize the choice to draft McIlrath was met with some cynicism by Ranger fans. That's understandable with the glaring needs at forward. However, if you read the reviews on this kid, it's tough to argue with the pick--even if "higher-rated" players were still available. It's easy to fault the Rangers for not drafting Fowler, Gormley, or Forbort, but a lot of teams passed on those players, so there may be a solid reason why they fell so far. Gordie Clark is a premier evaluator of young talent and his picks, by and large, have been pretty damn good. Personally, I'm really psyched to see a potential young Scott Stevens-type Dman in Ranger blue. I think Kevin is spot-on in his "retraction" post from earlier today.
If these young D develop into 75-80% of their potential, that's a pretty nice, tough, mobile, transition-able squad to throw out in front of a premier goalie like Henrik. Throw in Stepan, Kreider, Grachev, Anisimov, Weise, and possibly Bourque and Thomas, and you've got a really nice core of talented youth that should make for a competitive team in the not-so-distant future. I'm looking forward to seeing these kids grow together!
James great comment. Especially the part about me being spot-on.
One has to be concerned about McDonagh-does he even have the kahuna's to play in NYC? I know I might be reading more into this but the chance to further your career compared to a team that will be rebuilding at college? You can always finish your education at any time in the future.
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