New York Rangers: Top 10 prospects entering 2018

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SKA St Petersburg goaltender Igor Shestyorkin makes a save (Photo by Alexander Demianchuk/TASS via Getty Images) /

The New York Rangers are rebuilding after tearing down their roster over the last few years. Here are the prospects who can kick start that rebuild.

The New York Rangers have a ton of excellent prospects. They have so many that the following prospects, who could have made other lists, aren’t on this one: Timothy Gettinger, Ryan Lindgren, Ryan Gropp, Sean Day, Nils Lundkvist, and Ville Meskanen.

Lundkvist was a first-round pick this last draft. Day was one of the very rare players who got to play in the Canadian juniors before 16. Gropp put up 14 goals in his first AHL season. These are the guys who didn’t make the list. The Rangers have a very good start to their rebuild.

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These prospects are ranked based on three equal factors: ceiling, NHL readiness, and the likelihood that they play consistently with the New York Rangers. In order to qualify, each prospect must not have played 25 NHL games. Again, these are the best prospects the Rangers have to offer after a few years of rebuilding. This list will continue to improve and change as prospects graduate to the NHL.

Let’s start with the goaltenders.

1. Igor Shestyorkin [22] (4-118, 2014)

Stats (SKA St. Petersburg, KHL): 28 gp, 1.70 GAA, .933 SV%, 7 SO (1 pgp, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 SV%)

Igor Shestyorkin was excellent in the KHL this past season, and at 22 is still incredibly young. He had seven shutouts in just 28 games. He had a .933 save percentage and a 1.70 GAA. He also did well in the minute he played before getting hurt in the playoffs. That’s the most worrying part of his season, is that he played less than a minute before getting injured in the postseason. It’ll be interesting for the New York Rangers to see how he recovers.

Igor Shestyorkin was excellent in the KHL this past season, and at 22 is still incredibly young

Shestyorkin is another goaltender who will need to be brought to North America to actually show what he can do. Setting the second-best league on fire isn’t everything, and because that league is in Russia, it poses an obstacle. Shestyorkin may not attempt to make the transition because he’s home. It will be a hard job for the New York Rangers, bringing their best goaltending prospect over. He may not want to play in the AHL and he may want the starting job if and when he comes over. That shouldn’t be a problem for the Rangers.

Bringing Shestyorkin over needs to be priority number one. The Rangers are rebuilding and Henrik Lundqvist is 36. Having him tutor the young Shestyorkin for the last few years could be a good deal for both goaltenders. Shestyorkin can learn from one of the greatest to ever play and Lundqvist’s legacy in New York can live on. It’s just a matter of convincing the young Russian to come over, and that may be out of the Rangers’ hands.

2. Alexandar Georgiev [22] (UDFA)

Stats (Hartford Wolf Pack, AHL): 37 gp, 2.98 GAA, .909 SV%, 2 SO;
Stats (New York Rangers, NHL): 10 gp, 3.15 GAA, .918 SV%.

While waiting for Shestyorkin, the Rangers need someone to take on the backup role in the long term and provide insurance in case Lundqvist goes down. The New York Rangers have a terrific legacy of their backups becoming starters, with Antti Raanta in Arizona and Cam Talbot in Edmonton. The next in that line could be Alexandar Georgiev, an undrafted free agent the Rangers signed and who did some serious work in the AHL this past season. Georgiev also looked good in the NHL, getting 10 games.

Georgiev might be a more realistic future solution for the Rangers

Georgiev had a .918 save percentage in the NHL and a .909 in the AHL. He did better with a better defense in front of him, which is a good sign for the future. Georgiev also got two shutouts in the AHL this past season and showed good ability to make key saves. In the NHL he had a .923 save percentage at even strength and stopped four shots against on the power play.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Georgiev. He’s the European goaltender the Rangers have already brought over, but he’s not on the same level as Shestyorkin. Still, if the New York Rangers are never able to bring Shestyorkin over, he’s not even on that level. Georgiev might be a more realistic future solution for the Rangers, and he’s able to develop in the AHL in the present. With a better year in Hartford, Georgiev becomes a more attractive candidate for the future starting job.

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