Jess Rubenstein at The Prospect Park says 2010 may not be prospect friendly for the Rangers..."If the Rangers carry 13 forwards then that will leave 2 spots open but even if there were more spots open the truth is that none of the franchise impact prospects are even close to being NHL ready. No Ranger fan is going to want to hear this but if you were looking forward to making the playoffs next season then you might be very disappointed."
Rubenstein adds that prospects will get their opportunity during the 2011-2012 season.
He also says the situation on defense is a little more promising for prospects.
...this is just one person's opinion, but a lot of what Jess is saying is true. For prospects to get a chance a spot has to be available. If you look at the potential line combinations that Jess lays out there really isn't that much room. Although he pencils in Boyle who I'm hoping is going to lose out to a Byers or Weise.
...so I'd say tops you're looking at two forward prospects to make the opening night roster. Which to me isn't enough as I won't be disappointed if the Rangers don't make the playoffs while giving the younger guys a chance.
7 comments:
I see his points, but we had to get NHL players to fill those spots no matter what the plans are, simply b/c we have no idea until after training camp if any of the prospects are ready. It would be asking the team to take a huge gamble to keep those spots open assuming prospects will step up and be NHL-ready.
I believe that if any of the kids really show they're ready in camp, they'll be up on the big club and can take somebody else's spot.
His line expectations are extremely similar to what I was predicting:
Dubi-Christensen-Gabby
Prospal-Anisimov-Cally
Avery-Drury-MZA
Boogaard-????-Prust
What was/is everyone else expecting? What if Boyle was dropped to Hartford like Kevin has been hoping for months now and opens a spot up for Weise or Byers?
Brent
I think Avery could end up on the 4th line at times as well. Don't forget he can play center as well.
I agree that the prospects aren't going to get much of a shot, but you cant say that Grachev or Stepan wouldnt make an impact on the third line and you also cant say that Dupont, Byers, or Weise wouldnt make an impact on the fourth line.
I think that Boyle is a waste of size. He's a decent center, but is the softest 6'7 player that i have ever seen. I wouldn't mind seeing him not make the team and I also wouldnt mind seeing avery ride the pine. avery was the novelty guy for a while and he ammused all of us, but what does he bring to the table talent wise? Pretty soon teams are going to smarten up to his antics and if they ignore avery, then he will be rendered useless.
Send redden down already!!!!!!!!!
My idea of a line up looks like :
Line 1 Dubinsky-Anisimov-Gaborik
Line 2 MZA-Christensen-Prospal
Line 3 Prust-Drury-Callahan
Line 4 Byers-Dupont-Boogaard
Healthy Scratches Boyle-Avery
D 1 Staal-Del Zotto
D 2 Roszival-Girardi
D 3 Gilroy-McDougnah
Healthy scratch Emminger
I'm most excited about seeing MZA and Stepan. I'll probably try and buy tickets if there's any way I'll know ahead of time if MZA will be dressed.
I bet dude will try to put on the flash immediately.
john - nobody can be sent dow until training camp so you'll have to wait a while on redden
why is everyone so excited about Grachev??? Are you people on meds?? He did nothing in the AHL, he couldnt even make the adjustment from juniors to the AHL. How is he possibly even ready for the NHL? Grachev peaked in juniors and he used his size to his advantage when many other players were still becoming men. Trade him while teams still think he is good.
Post a Comment