Draft 2010

Now that we've all had a little bit of time to digest the happenings of Friday night and Saturday in Los Angeles, here is some info and some thoughts about the Rangers' draft.

First, the picks:

1st Round (10th overall): D Dylan McIlrath, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)

      Widely regarded as one of the toughest players in this draft class, the 6'5" 222-lb. McIlrath was the Warriors' captain this past season.  He had a career-high 24 points this past season, and is much more of the shut-down defender the Rangers have been missing than Fowler and Gormley.

2nd (40th): RW Christian Thomas, Oshawa Generals (OHL) 

      Son of Steve Thomas, who scored 933 points in 20 NHL seasons.  Christian is 5'9", but is said to have inherited a good bit of his father's scoring touch.  He netted 41 goals and 25 assists in 2009-10, up from 25 total points in 2008-09.

4th (100th): C Andrew Yogan, Erie Otters (OHL)

      Yogan is another big body (6'3", 202-lbs.), but he also fills a  major need in the Rangers' system at Center.  The Florida-born pivot racked up 55 points in 63 games last year, along with 97 PIMs.

5th (130th): LW Jason Wilson, Owen Sound Attack (OHL)

      Another big body at 6'2, 205-lbs, he's 20 years old and only played 46 games last season in the OHL.  He was able to put up a respectable 35 points and 101 PIMs in the action he saw.

6th (157th): LW Jesper Fasth, HV71 (Sweden Juniors)

      The 6' 175-lb. Swede currently plays for HV71's U20 team and put up 49 points in 37 games this past season.  He also appeared in 2 games for the HV71 Elite League team, but didn't hit the scoresheet. Has been regarded as a solid skater who lacks the physical edge to his game, but is still willing to fight though traffic.

7th ( 190th): RW Randy McNaught, Saskatoon Blades (WHL)

      6'5", 221-lb. is the 2nd 20-year-old taken by the Rangers in this draft.  Racked up 131 PIMs to go along with just 12 points in 59 games in 2009-10.


And the trades that effected this draft:
Saturday: 
     Rangers get: 2011 2nd Round pick (Washington), 2010 6th round pick (157th overall - Fasth)
     Hurricanes get: D Bobby Sanguinetti

May 25:
     Rangers get: D Jyri Niemi
     Islanders get: 2010 6th round pick (160th overall)

June 29, 2009:

     Rangers get: C Brian Boyle

     Islanders get: 2010 3rd round pick (70th overall)

My take:

• I was originally appalled/livid/puzzled/[insert additional adjectives here] that the Rangers selected a Defenseman with their first round pick, but left Cam Fowler AND Brandon Gormley on the board.  However, after some look into scouting reports on "The Undertaker"--McIlrath's nickname--this pick makes much more sense.  The Rangers are chock full of offensive D-men in their system (Del Zotto, Potter, McDonagh, Sauer amongst others) and have lacked a bruising blue-liner for years.  This pick could turn out looking great or looking terrible, but only time will tell...and more than 2 years' time.
• It really seems like the Rangers shifted their focus for this year's draft.  For the past few years they've clearly been looking at solid skaters with skill.  This year it looked as if they were drafting for size, with 4 of their 6 picks already 6'2" or taller.
• Also, the Rangers picked less than 2 international players for the first time since 2005 when they selected 8 Canadians and 1 American.
• I don't really understand the choices of Wilson and more-so McNaught.  Both are 20 and grit guys.  Maybe I'm crazy, but those are the kind of guys you can pick up for the league minimum or close through free agency.  I would much rather have seem them take a chance on a low-ranked Center with at least one of those picks.

• Thanks to hockeyfights.com, we have this video of McIlrath and McNaught fighting last season...

Information used in this post was obtained from hockeydb.com and eliteprospects.com.