The Rangers Tribune

Thomas, McColgan Sign ATOs with Whale

The Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League announced today that they have signed prospects Christian Thomas and Shane McColgan to amateur tryout contracts. For both Thomas and McColgan, they have completed their four-year eligibility stint with their respective Junior teams, which were eliminated from the playoffs this past week. 

Thomas, at only 5-foot-9, recorded 33 goals and 34 assists with the Oshawa Generals this season. I noted his size because it's obviously a concern right off the bat, but rest assure that Christian doesn't allow that to slow him down - literally and figuratively. Much like Mats Zuccarello, Thomas makes up for his lack of size with quick feet and hands. I saw a lot of him during the Traverse City Prospects Tournament back in September, and he was certainly someone who stood out, at least in my eyes. He has a wicked wrist shot that is deadly from in close as well. 

As for McColgan, he had 18 goals and 46 assists for the Kelowna Rockets this year. McColgan also has an impressive set of hands on him, but his go-to trait has to be his grit and hard-nosed style of play. I still think he has a ways to go before being ready for the National Hockey League based on what I've read and heard, but he's perfectly molded to be a New York Ranger. He definitely has some of that relentless Ryan Callahan in him. 

The purpose of signing these two to tryout contracts is to get them their first taste of professional hockey and also to better prepare them for training camp next fall. It's an approach that has worked for the Rangers in the past, and I've noticed them doing it more often each year.

Rangers Ink Andrew Yogan to Entry-Level Deal

The New York Rangers announced last week that 2010 fourth-round draft pick Andrew Yogan had signed with the Connecticut Whale of the AHL on a tryout basis. Now, a week later, the team has reported that Yogan, 20, has inked an entry-level deal with the organization that begins next season. 

According to Cap Geek, the contract is two-way and brings along an annual cap hit of $655,000. All entry-level deals into the National Hockey League are three years in length. 

As I said last week when reporting the signing of the ATO deal, Yogan is an underrated prospect withing the organization. He had a fantastic year in the OHL, recording 41 goals and 37 assists in 66 games with the Peterborough Petes. His 6-foot-3, 200 pound frame allows him to be a very effective player around the net, and his precision skating also contributes in making him an even more dangerous scorer. 

Depending on how things go in training camp and Traverse City next fall, we could possibly see Yogan in a Rangers uniform for the start of 2012-13. I wouldn't say it is 'likely', but it could certainly happen. 

* Chris Kreider's BC Eagles have advanced to the NCAA Final Four and will be going up against Minnesota in the semifinals on April 5. There's much buzz that the Rangers wish to sign Kreider for the playoffs, but the only way I would be accepting of that strategy is if he was able to get regular season games under his belt beforehand. But now that he is in the semifinals with BC, that's not going to happen. 

College tournament hockey is a whole different world compared to playoff hockey in the NHL. I don't think the Rangers want him making that jump for the sake of his development. 

Talking Prospects: Andrew Yogan, Chris Kreider, Zuccarello and more

Having the day off after last night's 2-1 overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings, the New York Rangers don't have very much going on today. However, there is plenty to talk about in regard to the organization's prospects this afternoon. 

The Connecticut Whale of the AHL announced yesterday that they have signed youngsters Andrew Yogan and Peter Ceresnak to amateur tryout contracts (ATOs), and that the two players will be with the club for the final few weeks of the season beginning this weekend. 

Yogan, in my opinion anyway, is a very underrated prospect in the Rangers' system. He had a terrific year with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL this season, registering 41 goals and 37 assists in 66 games.

Yogan, a 4th-round pick of the Rangers, has a big frame at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, and he uses that size well when going into the corners and around the net. From what I've heard, he is a smooth skater with great hockey awareness. Noticing something? This is the exact profile of a prototypical New York Ranger at the moment. I'm not joking when I say this kid may not be as far from reaching the NHL as many think. 

Yogan is 20-years-old and has just finished his final eligible year in Juniors. Yogan made his pro debut with the Whale last season, scoring 3 goals in two games. 

Now, for the name every Ranger fan is aware of: Chris Kreider. Kreider was the Rangers' first-round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and he was a big name then. Now, a few years later, he's shown improvements in every area of his game and is destined for stardom. He is now playing with the Boston College Eagles in the NCAA, and has nearly doubled his stats from one season to the next. The speedy center/winger has 20 goals and 21 assists in 40 games with BC this year. 

This will be Kreider's final year at the collegiate level, so it is expected that he will be joining the New York Rangers next season. However, there's a good chance we may see him before then as the Eagles are currently in the NCAA tournament and depending on how far they go, may have an earlier end to their season than was expected. If that's the case, reports are that Kreider immediately plans to sign with the Rangers for the remainder of the regular season and into the playoffs. 

Head coach John Tortorella may not be thrilled with the idea of throwing a non-pro player in the mix at this stage of the season, but he's not going to have much of a choice if Kreider's college team does get eliminated and he signs a deal with the Rangers. 

BC's first game is this weekend against Air Force. 

And last, but certainly not least, is Mats Zuccarello. Now you may not consider Zuccarello a 'prospect' at this point, but still, there has been some news surrounding his name as well. According to Andrew Gross, GM Glen Sather has stated that the Rangers would like to re-sign Zuccarello when his contract expires this summer and he becomes a restricted free agent.....

“We want to re-sign him,” Rangers general manager Glen Sather told The Record Tuesday. “But there are a lot of guys we have to deal with. Usually, we handle it at the end of the season. We don’t want to throw anybody off their game.”

Rangers Taking Correct Approach with Dylan McIlrath

Defenseman Dylan McIlrath may not be ready for the National Hockey League just yet, but the New York Rangers are doing him a favor and making sure that he learns as much as possible in the next two weeks. A majority of the defensemen partaking in training camp this year were assigned to their Junior or AHL squads after Saturday's first round of cuts. McIlrath, although he will not make the team this year, was not and there is a reason for that. 

"He's not ready," said head coach John Tortorella when asked about McIlrath. "But that gives us a chance to teach him."

And that's exactly what they will do. It's not only about playing in preseason games, either. It's just the fact that Dylan is getting a tremendous amount of exposure being with an NHL team for so long at just the age of nineteen. Whether it's practices, scrimmages or maybe just video review, McIlrath is getting the full learning experience with the Rangers coaching staff before he heads down toJuniors where he will join the Moose Jaw for this season. 

The Rangers have shown an encouraging amount of belief in this kid since drafting him tenth overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Since then he's learned a lot while playing in Moose Jaw and has been improving the right areas of his game that needed to be improved upon. He's since been signed to a contract, was named captain of the Traverse City Prospects team and now is spending an extended amount of time with the NHL club during training camp.

Not only will this all help his game, but it will also act as a confidence booster. Dylan now believes in the organization just as much as they believe in him, and to have that mutual respect from a key prospect within your system is critical and will only help the process move along faster. 

McIlrath will now travel with the team to Europe following tonight's preseason match against the Philadelphia Flyers, where they will play three more games before the October 7 season opener against the L.A. Kings. How many prospects have traveled with an NHL team overseas before actually making the lineup? I can tell you right now, not many kids have that on their résumé. 

 I think just being around Ryan McDonagh and Michael Sauer - guys who have gone through the same process as him - will help McIlrath's mentality. You know they have to be encouraging this kid every chance they get, and that has to be a very special thing for Dylan. Sometimes players get discouraged when they know they are not making the team out of camp, but McIlrath has no reason to feel that way at all. 

The Rangers believe in him and are taking the correct approach, and that's all that should matter in his head. And when he is ready to don the Blueshirt on opening night in 2012-13, he will look back at his experience these past few weeks and realize how much he actually learned here. 

Traverse City: Rangers Fall to Sabres in Championship, Finish Second in Tourney

The New York Rangers will not walk away from Traverse City with the first place trophy this year, but their major goals, you must admit, were accomplished regardless. The whole purpose of this tournament is for teams to get a legitimate glimpse at their prospects before the start of training camp, and from a Blueshirts standpoint, I think they saw everything they needed to over the past week. The coaching staff and management now have a pretty good idea as to where everyone is in their development stages, and to me that makes this tournament a success. 

Buffalo was a speedy club as expected, but what gave them a clear advantage over the Rangers this evening was their size. They were out-muscling the Rangers from the opening faceoff, and when you are constantly losing the little battles it is going to be hard to win the bigger one. That's where the Rangers ran into trouble tonight and it ultimately is the reason why they lost the game. 

I felt they played a very strong second period, which featured a beautiful snipe by Ryan Bourque to tie things at two at the time. They were skating, creating offensive chances and finishing their checks. That just didn't happen in the first and third periods, and for obvious reasons playing hard in one out of three periods is not going to win you any hockey game, let alone a championship one. 

But what's really important here are the individual performances, so that we shall focus on. I really liked what I saw from J.T. Miller in this game. He came a long way from being pretty much dormant in game one to being in the middle of the action in this one. Miller has some weight to him, so that allows him to drive through traffic with the puck. I noticed this several times tonight and you could tell he is very strong on the puck. He has a lot to learn, but he's not too far from being an elite prospect within the organization, either. 

Carl Hagelin also had a strong game offensively. He made the beautiful pass from behind the net to set-up Miller's goal and that one rush in the first period that ended up drawing a penalty was incredible. He had two defensemen to beat coming down the middle and he easily blew past both of them without hesitation. Put a 10 on his back and I would've sworn that was Marian Gaborik out there. That was some explosiveness Carl showed. 

Someone else that impressed me with speed in this tournament was Ryan Bourque. I knew Bourque was all heart and quite talented, but this sudden speed seems to be a new weapon he's obtained over the past year. He was buzzing around on the rink with and without the puck, especially while forechecking. He also netted a sweet goal in the second as I mentioned above, and that was basically a showcase of his stellar set of hands. 

Tim Erixon had another solid game defensively. I didn't notice him as much on offense tonight, but that could be because of the great position-defense that the Sabres were playing in their own zone. If you listened to all of the interviews MSG Network did, everyone seems to be pointing at Erixon as the guy who is most likely to make the big club out of camp. That's exactly what I discussed in this morning's article on him. 

McIlrath played a decent game as well. There's no doubt he needs a year in the AHL, but I think after that he will be NHL ready for sure. I know it's a long way from now, but who will the Rangers be giving the boot once McIlrath is ready? Eh, I guess we shouldn't worry until next year, but it still is an interesting thought. 

Samuel Noreau had his worst game of the tournament tonight, as did Blake Parlett. Both were burned more than once on turnovers, which is inexcusable in a championship game. Don't mean to sound harsh, but that's the truth in a game of such importance. 

And I'm sure many of you heard the news about Andrew Yogan's separated shoulder. That's unfortunate to hear because he just had surgery on it last year and was limited to just ten games. I guess that's hockey, though. 

Oh and before I wrap this up, I think Christian Thomas deserves a shoutout for the toughness he showed when bouncing right up from the huge hit that was put on him early in the first period. I mean, that was a crushing blow and he didn't seem to be phased one bit. Pretty impressive considering his size. 

So as I said above, I think this tournament was a huge success for the Rangers despite not winning first place. It guarantees that the organization has a very bright future and also made it clear who is ready to make the next big step and who isn't. Now it's time to focus on the big boys, who will begin camp on Friday.

The 2011-12 season is only a day away!

Traverse City: Rangers Take on Sabres for Championship Tonight

It's only a prospects tournament, but at the same time it is a championship game. The New York Rangers have full belief that they are are the best club in the tournament and therefore should be crowned champions tonight against the Buffalo Sabres. They have every right to believe that because when you look at their lineup compared to some of the others, they are far superior on paper. The Sabres will surely give them a run for their money, though. 

The Rangers should've beat the Hurricanes yesterday based on their domination in the the third period alone. Unfortunately a lack luster first two periods on defense ended up costing them, as did a puck-handling mistake in overtime. As Dylan McIlrath said in his postgame interview yesterday, the Rangers need to play mistake-free hockey against the Sabres if they want the championship this evening. 

This year's team happens to be best when cycling in the zone, so puck possession will be their key to victory in this game. Their puck movement has been just as good when at even strength as it has been with the man advantage, and a lot of that has to do with the IQ they have at the point. The pointmen have done a fantastic job of finding open men down low in the slot, setting up scoring chances from close in. 

Tim Erixon has been a big part of that with his one-timers. And when I say one-timers, I don't only mean shots. He uses his one-timer to make passes as well, which is not an easy thing to do when going for accuracy. 

Offensively the player the Rangers will be counting on the most, I think, is Christian Thomas. In a skill vs. skill game, your snipers are the ones you rely on for goals. As we saw on his goal yesterday, the kid has a ridiculous release that could beat any goaltender. He needs to find ways to get open in the slot, and from there he just has to do his thing. Not many goalies are stopping that thing. 

Erixon and Thomas are not the only players to watch tonight. In fact, a championship game is one in which you watch everyone being that it measures character and confidence. There will undoubtedly be nerves among these youngsters, but the ones who best overcome those nerves usually end up having the biggest impact.

This is where you look to your more experienced players, which for the Rangers are Carl Hagelin and Ryan Bourque. Why? Both have been in many games where a lot is on the line for their club. This shouldn't be anything new to these two. 

Scott Stajcer is expected to start in goal for the Blueshirts. 

Check back afterwards for postgame analysis as usual!

Traverse City Postgame: Rangers Fall to Hurricanes in OT, Will Play in Championship Tomorrow

So the New York Rangers will not be undefeated in this year's Traverse City tournament after today's 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, but they will still have a shot at winning the championship tomorrow night nonetheless. 

The Rangers played a noticeably weaker game today than they did over the weekend in games one and two of the tourney, and perhaps that has something to do with the fact that this contest was pretty much meaningless as far as the standings went. But still, that is not an excuse that will fly with anyone in that locker room, but nor is it something that they should harp on. Tomorrow's championship is now the major focus and what happened today is history. 

I must give credit where credit is due and applaud goaltender Jason Missiaen on his 38-save performance today. I think he easily should've stopped the overtime winner, but aside from that, he made some key stops throughout the contest. His lateral movement was much better in this game than it was in his first start on Saturday, and he also had better control over his rebounds. 

Unfortunately the defense was not playing their best today and did not give Missiaen the assistance he needed around the net. For example, on the first goal Dylan McIlrath was caught following around Jared Staal for a high hit the Hurricane put on Dylan's teammate. That left the slot wide open for a one-timed goal. No matter what, when you are the only player covering the slot, you cannot abandon that position while the puck is being controlled by the opposition. You saw why there. 

Other than that, though, you really can't complain much about McIlrath's game today. The same goes for Tim Erixon, who's shown further improvement in each game of the tournament. At this point, I would be absolutely shocked if he did not make the NHL squad out of training camp. He looks NHL-ready to me without a doubt. 

Shane McColgan was my favorite on offense in this game. He picked up a goal and was in the middle of all the action before and after the whistle. For a small kid, he is very aggressive and very protective of himself and his teammates. I like that battle in smaller players; it's a fantastic trait to have. 

J.T. Miller also possesses that trait, as we saw when he dropped the gloves in defense of teammate Ryan Bourque in the third period. Miller's work ethic has been outstanding in the past two games and I now am seeing why Gordie Clark was comparing him to Brandon Dubinsky upon drafting him. 

Christian Thomas also deserves an honorable mention for picking up a goal and an assist in this one. The release on his buzzer-beater at the end of the firs period was jaw-dropping. That thing looked like it was shot out of a cannon, proving why he so often is labeled as an elite sniper.

The Rangers will certainly want to pick up their speed in tomorrow's championship, which I am assuming will be played against the Buffalo Sabres. Their game slowed down this afternoon compared to the first two tilts, and that needs to change if they want to go home champions.  

Traverse City: Rangers to Face Canes in Final Game Before Championship

No matter what happens in today's game against the Carolina Hurricanes prospects at 3:00, the New York Rangers prospects will be playing in Wednesday's Traverse City championship regardless. So, in a sense, this afternoon's contest is meaningless, but I still expect a strong effort from the boys, who are 2-0-0 in the tournament thus far. 

The Rangers were dominant in both their 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues and their 6-2 win over the Dallas Stars this past weekend. Both of those clubs had some considerable talent while the Hurricanes have been struggling so far in the tourney, posting an 0-2-0 record to this point. I don't want to go ahead and say that this should be an easy win, but when all things are considered, there's no reason it shouldn't be if the club continues to play the way they did in the first two games of the tournament. 

Tim Erixon, Dylan McIlrath, Christian Thomas, Ryan Bourque and Carl Hagelin have been my players to watch, which makes sense being that they all have the most current potential out of all the prospects on the Ranger team. These five have been a major reason for the Blueshirts' success in the tournament and have showed qualities of dominance often. 

With that I will leave you, but just like every other game of the tournament, check back following today's tilt for postgame analysis and thoughts. 

Traverse City Postgame: Rangers Flatten Stars, 6-2, For Second Win in Tourney

The New York Rangers prospects now are atop the Gretzky Division with a 2-0-0 record after tonight's stellar 6-2 win over the Dallas Stars prospects. Considering Jack Campbell, the top ranked goaltender for Team USA in the World Junior tournament, was in net for Dallas, it's impressive that the Blueshirts were able to get six by him and also hold the Stars' forwards to only two goals. 

A big part of that was the solid game by Scott Stajcer in net for the Rangers. I wasn't lying to you when I said Stajcer is a much better goaltender than Jack Missiaen, who started last night against the Blues. Stajcer looked very comfortable between the pipes and was tracking the puck down well. He will be the go-to guy with the Connecticut Whale (AHL) this year and now you see why. 

Aside from Stajcer, Ryan Bourque was my favorite player to watch in this game. He finished the night with two goals but played smart hockey on the defensive side of the puck as well. I compare Bourque to Ryan Callahan a lot, and hopefully by now you are seeing that comparison more clearly. Bourque hustles, grinds and has some strong offensive moves to boot. He's an all around package and I will even go as far as to say that he may have slightly better hands than Callahan. I see him as a future Ranger for sure. Maybe not this year, but somewhere down the road. 

I made a comment about J.T. Miller not doing very much in the tournament opener yesterday, but he sure turned it around in this game. He scored the game's first goal and we really got a good look at the resilient work ethic that has been tied to his name. He is so strong along the boards and protects the puck well for a smaller guy. Good outing for the first-rounder tonight.

Another player who showed improvement from one night to the next was defenseman Dylan McIlrath. He dropped the gloves once and really put on a beating, showing off what he does best. Can't wait until that ball of nastiness is skating around at Madison Square Garden in the future. 

While on the topic of defenseman, Tim Erixon stood out to me yet again. I noticed him making several subtle plays in the defensive zone tonight and also used that cannon from the point offensively. As each game goes by, I'm liking Erixon's chances of making the big club out of camp more and more. 

And an honorable mention should also go to Blake Parlett, who recorded another two assists tonight. That's five in the past two games. 

The Rangers' next game will be on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes (0-2-0) at 3:30 in the afternoon. 

Rangers and Stars Square Off in Day Two at Traverse City

Following Saturday night's 5-2 dominating performance over the St. Louis Blues, the New York Rangers prospects must be feeling pretty good about their chances in this week's tournament. They were a force with the man advantage and were moving the puck around very well in the offensive zone for a team that only started practicing with each other a few days ago. Tonight they look to go 2-0-0 against the Dallas Stars. 

Defenseman Tim Erixon was the player to watch in last night's tilt. Realizing he is here to prove he can earn a roster spot with the big club out of training camp, Erixon really showed the coaching staff and management what he can bring to the table last night. His most impressive weapon was obviously his cannon from the point, both during even strength play and on the powerplay. He has a quick release yet that doesn't take away from his velocity. This makes him a severe threat from the blue-line.

We saw that assistant coach Mike Sullivan was in attendance last night and you could bet John Tortorella is also watching from here in New York, so Erixon's every move is being watched and if he continues to play like he did on Saturday, he will only help his case to make the team in a few weeks. 

Dylan McIlrath also raised some eyebrows with his performance on both sides of the puck yesterday. Was I right? Did a lot of you realize he is a better player than you thought? McIlrath is proving all of the critics wrong by showing he can do more than just hit and fight. Like Erixon, he had a few blasts from the point that traveled through traffic and on goal. Also, we saw how he is able to use his size to break up plays in the defensive zone as well. He has a lot of patience and that is key for a defenseman; especially one of his age. 

I forgot to touch on this in my recap of last night's game, but 2011 first-rounder J.T. Miller was relatively quiet in game one of the tournament. I saw him battling quite a lot along the boards, but he didn't really create anything from that. Again, this is his first year in the tournament and he isn't expected to come close to making the Rangers for another two years or so, but he is someone I am looking forward to seeing excel in this tourney. Can't say I saw that last night. 

I did like what I saw from Ryan Bourque, the elder statesman of the group. Like I said, he is very underrated in what he can actually do out there, and you saw his abilities when he scored his goal. The awareness, the speed and the shot were all perfect on that play and made for a gorgeous tally that extended his club's lead. Bourque wants to be a New York Ranger and he has remained positive throughout the process. But in order to be considered he is going to have to really standout in the remaining games of this tournament, and I think another strong game from him tonight will start to grab people's attention. 

Carl Hagelin and Christian Thomas are two other forwards who have their sites set on a potential spot with the Rangers this season. Both were zipping around the rink and firing shots from all angles against the Blues. They were probably the most effective forwards out there for the Blueshirts last night, and that's something Mike Sullivan talked about on the MSG broadcast. They both have legitimate shots at cracking the Rangers' lineup this year in my opinion. 

Since Jake Missiaen started in net last night, I would expect Scott Stajcer to get the nod tonight. Again, Stajcer is the better goaltender so the Rangers should have even more support back there than they did last night. 

Gametime is set for 6 p.m. and like last night I will have analysis up on the blog afterwards. See you then!