Draft Day Success

The MRFHL Entry Draft was held last night and during teh draft, the Rangers sent the 21st pick in the 1st round to the Boston Bruins for defenceman Matt Carle.

"We feel that defence was a component that we needed to improve upon and this deal was one that made sense for us. The pick would have been helpful, but having the 28th selection allowed us the opportunity to improve the team today and for at least the next 4 years."

A short while later another deal was struck with the Detroit Red Wings, sending prospect Magnus Pajaarvi-Svensson to Detroit for the 16th overall selection. With that pick, the Rangers selected hulking powerforward Tom Wilson.

"Magnus is a very solid prospect and we feel that he has a great career ahead of him. But we think very highly of Tom Wilson and when he was still on the board at 16, it was a deal we wanted to make. Wilson is a project, but he has tremendous size, a willingness to use it and what we feel is a solid base of offensive skills to improve his production. A project, no question, but one we feel good about."

A few minutes later another deal was made, again with Boston. Moving back from 28th overall to 36th and 40th.

"We felt that the players we were looking at at 28 were going to be there at 36 and 40 and we were right. Nicolas Kerdilies is a solidly build LW that has some very nice offensive upside. We feel that his physical game will come around as he matures mentally and physically and you add that to his skill set and he's going to be a special player. Lukas Sutter is also a very well built young man. Six foot and already 215lbs, we expect thsi young man to comeinto the game as a solid 3rd line center and if the blood lines tell you anything, it tells you that this is a take no prisoner kind of player that is ready, willing and able to do anything to win a game."

The Rangers also picked up, in the 4th round, defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere from Union College of the ECAC. Shayne played an important role as a freshman on the Dutchmen finishing 8th on the team in scoring, 2nd amongst defenceman with 5 goals and 17 assists in 41 games. The expectation is that his role will increase as will his point production.

With the Rangers 5th round selection, they selected C Cedric Paquette. Cedric in his first full season in the QMJHL posted 31 goals (lead his team) and 17 assists to pace 5th on the team in scoring with 48 points. A solid showing no doubt, but what the Rangers are excited about is how he was able to turn his game up a few notches in the Playoffs where he posted 7 goals and 10 assists for 17 points in just 11 games. It's more likely that Paquette finds his way to the NHL as a winger.

"Overall I think the Rangers had a good day. We addressed a team need for today, and were able ot draft some very solid looking kids for the system. We now set our sights on filling out the rest of the roster, specifically the forward group and see which of the kids make enough of an impact to earn a roster spot. There are a few to be had."