Welcome back to my New York Rangers Prospect Power Rankings for March. These rankings are based on the play of Rangers prospects from March 3rd to April 3rd. Just like the previous month, no goalies are included in this ranking; it solely ranks skaters in the organization who are under the age of 23 and have played less than a full season in the NHL.
March was the end of the regular season for a lot of Rangers prospects, so the rankings won’t be as competitive as they are in the middle of the season, with some of the prospects playing as little as one game in March. As always, I took that into account when doing my rankings and tried my best to be objective, given the stark differences between players in terms of ice time.
1. Gabe Perreault, Boston College/New York Rangers (5 GP: 3G, 1A) [=]
This month was up and down for Gabe Perreault; his college team was eliminated in the regional finals of the NCAA championship by the same team that beat them in the championship game last season, which had to sting. Just a couple days later, though, he was making his NHL debut after signing his entry-level contract. A low of this magnitude followed by an extreme high probably gives him mixed emotions, but his future starts now.
Perreault looked good in the Eagles’ last few games of the season, he was finishing more than playmaking, which was a nice surprise from him and something I hope we continue to see from him. He looked great in his NHL debut; he is fast and his vision is outstanding, which we already knew, but was great to see at a new level. It will be exciting to see what the rest of the season holds for him.
2. Noah Laba, Colorado College/Hartford Wolf Pack (7 GP: 3G, 2A) [NR]
Noah Laba was finally able to return from injury for the Tigers, and while they ultimately didn’t get the results they wanted and missed the NCAA playoffs, he played really well to try to extend their season. He was noticeable in every game that Colorado played against Denver, at times being one of the only players that was.
After being eliminated in the quest for the conference bid, Laba signed his entry-level contract to start next season and signed an amateur tryout so he could play with the Hartford Wolf Pack for the remainder of the season. Laba scored a beautiful shorthanded goal for his first professional goal and has looked great in the games he has played in so far. He has been playing top six minutes and all situations, without looking new or out of place, which is a great sign.
3. Dylan Roobroeck, Hartford Wolf Pack (10 GP: 5G, 2A) [NR]
Dylan Roobroeck continues to impress this season. Despite playing most of his minutes in the bottom six, he has been able to carve out a role that suits him well. This season has been a lot of back-and-forth for the first-year pro — his specific role on the team has been unclear with how often the coaching staff has moved him up and down the lineup, and yet he has still been able to stand out. He is currently fourth on the team in points and third on the team in goals, and he’s still a rookie.
Roobroeck is one of the strongest skaters on the team and has been a big part of the improved play of the Wolf Pack penalty kill over the last few weeks, which is especially important as that is something the team has struggled with a lot this season. Roobroeck is a big physical presence and thus exactly what the team needed. He will certainly be important to the team going forward.
4. Brennan Othmann, New York Rangers (14 GP: 2A) [-1]
While Brennan Othmann’s first ten games in the NHL seemed somewhat underwhelming due to limited minutes and a role that didn’t allow him to truly play his game, since he got moved to the top six, that has changed. Towards the end of March, Othmann was moved to the first line to play with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, and he has looked like his usual dynamic self ever since.
Othmann seems not only more confident, but also more comfortable in his role in the top six than he was playing five minutes a night on the fourth line. While his offense still isn’t where he or the Rangers would want it to be, he has been impressive in his defensive play. Since being moved to the top line over the last five games, he has put up a 77.17 xGF at 5v5 and has been on the ice for six goals for and zero goals against. Those are very promising numbers, and it shows that when used in the correct role, Othmann is finding success.
5. Raoul Boilard, Baie-Comeau Drakkar (11 GP: 3G, 9A) [NR]
Raoul Boilard has made the biggest improvement over the last month of any of the other prospects on the list, which leads me to believe that on top of missing a few weeks with injury, he was likely playing injured as well. He has looked like a completely different player over the last two weeks of the tracking period specifically. His play to start the playoffs has gone back to the strong 200-foot game that had him high on scouts’ lists for the NHL draft last year.
Boilard has been a threat offensively, making plays and finishing chances that he struggled to in the middle of the season, and he has also played a strong defensive game to keep his team in games. This is exactly what the Rangers drafted Boilard for, and it is great to see him get back to this level. Hopefully he and his team can extend their run in the QMJHL playoffs, so we can see more from him over the next few weeks, where he has the chance to make up for an overall underwhelming season.
6. Nathan Aspinall, Flint Firebirds (11 GP: 2G, 6A) [=]
March saw a dip in play for Nathan Aspinall, and as I have mentioned before, I don’t think it is a lack of skill with him, but more so a lack of effort that leads to a lack of consistency in his play. The Firebirds are not a good team and they weren’t ever going to make it very far in the playoffs, but there were many times in the last few weeks where Aspinall seemed to give up on plays. This is an issue that he has struggled with this season specifically.
We can only judge what he shows us on the ice, but it’s a worrying trend for a young player, even if it is understandable to be less motivated to give it your all on a team that has had a rough season in general. For Aspinall’s sake, I hope that either the Firebirds spend the summer building a more competitive team or he is able to move to one, so we can see if the trend continues before the Rangers even think about signing him.
7. Bryce McConnell-Barker, Hartford Wolf Pack (10 GP: 2G, 2A) [NR]
One of the most consistent players the Wolf Pack have had this season is Bryce McConnell-Barker, who has become a defensive mainstay in the bottom six for the team. While the role he is currently in isn’t the one he would have expected when he made the jump from the OHL to the AHL, it has been a role he is excelling in.
McConnell-Barker has been one of the best defensive forwards for Hartford during a season where they have struggled to find consistency on the blueline and in net. He has been relied on to play big minutes on a struggling penalty kill and although the overall results have been lacking, they would be far worse without him. He has spent the entire season playing left wing instead of his natural center position, but it hasn’t been super noticeable after the first couple of games. It would benefit the team to try to give him some time at center next season to see how much stronger he can be in his natural position.
8. Jaroslav Chmelař, Hartford Wolf Pack (10 GP: 2G, 2A) [=]
This season has been a rollercoaster for Jaroslav Chmelař. He rarely spends more than a couple of games on the same line and it’s been tough for him to adjust to all that movement. His play in general has been fine; he is sixth on the team in points and has been an essential physical presence to face off against other teams’ enforcers. He has had to fight in multiple games this season for big clean hits, which is far from ideal and has impacted his ability to make a bigger impact on some games, but he has been able to hold his own in those fights.
I think Chmelar still has a lot more to offer offensively, but he needs to be put in the right position to succeed, and that means allowing him to find chemistry with his linemates and giving him a consistent and dedicated role on the Wolf Pack. This is Chmelař’s first professional season, so I believe he can and will show more, as the effort is already there.
9. Ty Henricks, Western Michigan University (8 GP: 2G) [-2]
Ty Henricks is the Rangers’ last NCAA prospect standing this season. He and his Broncos will be playing in the Frozen Four, and it’s well deserved. Henricks has played in a limited fourth-line role, but still an important one for his team. He has been able to put up some decent offensive numbers, as well as being trusted in big defensive minutes.
Henricks has also managed to barely take any penalty minutes, making him one of the most responsible and effective bottom-six players in the NCAA as a freshman. The Broncos are a great team, and the fact that he is trusted every night to help them win is a testament to how well his development is going. He might never be a superstar, but he is the type of player every team will always need.
10. Jackson Dorrington, Northeastern University/Hartford Wolf Pack (7 GP: 2A) [-1]
Jackson Dorrington hasn’t been in the Rangers organization for very long, but he is quickly becoming one of the players I think everyone should keep an eye on. He gave it his all to try to help the Huskies become Hockey East champions. They managed to take out Boston College before falling to Maine in a second overtime of the semifinals. After that, he signed his entry-level contract with the Rangers to start next season and signed an amateur tryout to finish the season with the Wolf Pack.
While he has only played a few games for Hartford so far, Dorrington has been tasked with being the defensive partner of the Wolf Pack’s captain, Casey Fitzgerald, and he hasn’t looked out of place at all. Dorrington has played a very steady and responsible game so far; he hasn’t been able to find the scoresheet himself, but he has improved Fitzgerald’s game by being someone he can trust to make the correct reads when they are on the ice together. I will be eagerly awaiting a chance to see what he can do during a full season in the AHL.
Rangers Prospect Power Rankings Honorable Mentions
We’ve now reached the part where I would usually name the players I believe to be close to making the top ten, but unfortunately this month I didn’t feel like there was anyone that was close to breaking in. A couple of prospects like EJ Emery and Rasmus Larsson weren’t able to see much action, with the former returning to the lineup for North Dakota in the game they were eliminated in and the latter not making it back into the lineup before the end of the season for Northern Michigan.
I’m sure that if these players had managed to play more, it would be a different story, but as they weren’t able to, this month the top ten was relatively easy to choose. With the majority of prospects’ seasons ending in March or the beginning of April, next month’s ranking might be tossed in favor of doing an end-of-season ranking based on the season as a whole, not just month-to-month, but only time will tell. Check back next month to find out!
