New York Rangers Draft 1st Round Selection Pick #10 Defenseman Dylan McIlrath Regular Season GM G A P PIM 2008-09 Moose Jaw Warriors WHL 53 1 3 4 102 2009-10 Moose Jaw Warriors WHL 65 7 17 24 169 Playoffs GM G A P PIM 2009-10 Moose Jaw Warriors WHL 7 0 1 1 21 This is a prospect who is incredibly raw, with a huge heart, and who has progressed at an amazing rate. His offensive game is raw, but he has shown potential of becoming a good offensive threat. He has a good first pass and surprisingly good set of hands for his size, but both not great. He has big long strides and he's faster than you think. McIlrath uses his 6 ft 5 in 215 lb body to force players along the boards who are just trying to desperately distance themselves from him, putting them in a poor shooting position. Also a lot of players trying to beat him along the sides end up crushed into the boards or easily pushed down flat on the ice. McIlrath's hits are described as "Devastating" by many and has put fear into his opponents. In the 2009-10 regular season he had 19 fighting majors last season alone. So it's fitting that his nickname would be “The Undertaker”. With defensemen like Cam Fowler and Brandon Gromley left on the draft board, many were disappointed with the pick. McIlrath was ranked as the 26th best prospect in the draft and was expected to fall further into the draft. He can easily become a top 4 defenseman but can also just as easily be a bust. They took a chance with this pick and I love it! The rangers already have a lot of depth at defense with players like Ryan McDonagh, Mike Sauer, Corey Potter, and Matt Gilroy in their farm system but none are physical enforcers like McIlarth. He is exactly what they needed for their future but no one will truly know how this pick works out until a couple years down the road. 2nd Round Selection Pick #40 Right Winger Christian Thomas GM G A P PIM 2008-09 London Knights OHL 32 4 7 11 4 2008-09 Oshawa Generals OHL 27 4 10 14 10 2009-10 Oshawa Generals OHL 64 41 25 66 27 Thomas is a potential top-6 forward prospect, without a doubt. At 5 feet 9 inches he is a very elusive, fast skater. For a guy his size, he is pretty hard to knock off the puck and loves to throw his body around. It seemed like Oshawa's only offense came from Thomas. In his last season, he had more goals than the 2nd and 3rd highest goal scorers on the team combined! He is a true leader and a great playmaker despite the lack of assists. If he had better teammates, the assists would easily come to him. He has great offensive instincts and has a quick shot to go with it. He is a pure finisher and collects many of his goals around the net despite his size. Many are wondering why he would be picked so late if he has so much potential. Many feel like his size wouldn't translate too well into the NHL. Also some feel like his production was because of the lack of depth on his Oshawa team and that he would become somewhat irrelevant with a good team. The Rangers drafted a similar player in Nigel Dawes a couple years back and he showed some sparks of talent on the NHL level but was eventually traded away. I feel like Thomas has to be able to consistently put up numbers like his past year to truly get an opportunity to play in the NHL. A smart pick by the Rangers with the players left on the board and could become a 30 goal player in years to come. 4th Round selection Pick #100 Center Andrew Yogan GM G A P PIM 2007-08 Windsor Spitfires OHL 50 5 2 7 32 2008-09 Windsor Spitfires OHL 16 5 3 8 24 2008-09 Erie Otters OHL 35 17 17 34 32 2009-10 Erie Otters OHL 63 25 30 55 97 At 6 feet 3 inches, Yogan is a big physical work horse who will fight for the puck at every chance that he gets. He needs to learn how to use his use his body more and needs to work on board work. He tends to get lost and floats around in his own zone once in awhile. Yogan is another tough draft pick who isn't scared to drop the gloves. He is not the fastest or best skater by any means but has a tremendous shot with great accuracy and has incredible hands for his size. He likes being a playmaker and setting others up for goals. he doesn't have a good hockey sense which is really holding him back from becoming a great player If he were to reach his full potential, many feel like he could be a Spezza or Rick Nash type of player. He has a long ways to go though to be compared to those players. 5th Round Selection Pick #130 Left Winger Jason Wilson GM G A P PIM 2007-08 Toronto Jr. Canadiens OPJHL 37 7 10 17 69 2008-09 London Knights OHL 52 12 5 17 104 2009-10 Owen Sound Attack OHL 46 17 18 35 101 Not sure where they were going with this pick. Once again another tough fighter with a poor hockey IQ, and little offensive talent. 4th line potential but he does happen to absolutely man handle players in his fights. This is not a good pick with the players who were on the board and because the Rangers drafted a better player of the same mold with our 7th round pick. Once again the Rangers drafted for pure toughness and to get more grit in the line up. An odd selection since he is already 20 years old. 6th Round selection Pick #157 Wing Jesper Fasth Season Team League GP G A TP PIM 2007-2008 Småland TV-Pucken 8 4 2 6 8 HV71 J18 J18 Elit 16 8 4 12 4 HV71 J18 J18 Allsvenskan 14 7 7 14 10 HV71 J20 SuperElit 3 0 0 0 2 2008-2009 HV71 J18 J18 Elit 2 2 2 4 0 HV71 J18 J18 Allsvenskan 1 0 0 0 2 HV71 J20 SuperElit 37 7 7 14 16 2009-2010 HV71 J20 SuperElit 37 23 26 49 10 HV71 Elitserien 2 0 0 0 0 Sweden U18 (all) International 4 0 0 0 12 Sweden U19 (all) International 6 5 3 8 2 Fasth is a very good skater with nice acceleration and top speed. He works very hard, fore checks with impressive intensity and also create a lot of offense thanks to his agility and speed. Has decent hockey sense, technical skills and scoring ability, but it perhaps still more likely to develop into a role player. Is not an overly physical player, but likes to play through rough traffic and does it pretty well. Some believe he can be a sleeper in this draft. He just needs to improve on his shot. 7th Round selection Pick# 190 Wing Randy McNaught GM G A P PIM 2006-07 Nanaimo Clippers BCHL 39 3 4 7 59 2007-08 Chilliwack Bruins WHL 30 3 1 4 53 2008-09 Chilliwack Bruins WHL 51 5 4 9 78 2009-10 Chilliwack Bruins WHL 6 0 0 0 32 2009-10 Saskatoon Blades WHL 59 6 6 12 131 Randy McNaught is what you call a true enforcer or some like to even say he's a goon. He is specifically put in the line up to hit hard and get opposition to focus more on him rather than the game. He is known to be a little dirty but he does his job well. Basically, you never want to end up in a fight with this guy. Overall I would give the draft a B because the Rangers got what they wanted from this draft. They drafted for toughness and grit this year. The Rangers future might not be the most skilled team but definitely one of the most feared with a draft like this. We'll have to wait at least 3 years to see how this draft truly turned out.
