The New York Rangers have a team of established stars, and after making it to the sixth game of the Eastern Conference Final series, they have much greater aspirations in the upcoming season.
Forwards Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck, Alexis Lafreniere and defenseman Adam Fox give head coach Peter Laviolette an established core of skaters who are capable of taking over any game and delivering the production needed to turn losses into victories.
The Rangers also have the goaltending with Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick to prevent opposing teams from stealing momentum. The Rangers may have a weakness or two among their defensemen, but this is clearly a strong team as they prepare for the new season.
Even though the Rangers have excellent veteran talent, they also have some high-level prospects who will have an opportunity to play for the team in the future. Rangers general manager Chris Drury does not have to rush talented youngsters into the lineup, but he knows they are developing
Defenseman E.J. Emery has size and skating ability
The Rangers have a lot of talent and depth on offense, but not quite as much on the blue line. As a result, a top prospect like E.J. Emery has a chance to make a move up the ladder.
Emery checks in at 6-3 and 185 pounds and the right-shot defenseman was the 30th choice in the first round of the 2024 draft. He was not an overly impressive scorer as he had 16 points in 61 games, but he finished the season with a plus-34 rating while competing U.S. National Team Development Program (under 17).
Nick Fohr, the coach of Emery’s team, said he is comparable to a right-handed version of Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller.
“I coached both of those guys,” Fohr said, Per Vincent Z. Mercogliano of the Rockland/Westechester Journal . “K’Andre has a bigger frame to him and is a little bit more put together, especially now. … But EJ has similar assets and similar attributes as far as his ability to skate, how long he is, how well he plays the rush and can kill penalties and can transition pucks. So, from a visual perspective, that’s really the simplest, easiest way to look at it.”
Emery is able to skate in impressive fashion, flying up the ice when he has to turn it one. He also has demonstrated excellent passing ability and can find open teammates with consistency. However, there is no getting around that Emery has a below-average shot. It’s something that he is going to have to work on quite a bit if he is ever going to become a decent offensive threat.
Gabe Perreault has star potential for Rangers
The top prospect in the Rangers organization is 5-11 and 163-pound winger Gabe Perreault.
He can play either left or right wing and he was a big-time scorer for Boston College during last year’s college hockey season. He had 19 goals and 41 assists in 36 games while earning a plus-24 rating.
Perreault was explosive as a freshman for BC, and he looked worthy of the first-round draft status the Rangers bestowed on him in 2023.
Like many star players, it’s not just the physical ability that allows Perreault to separate himself from the competition. He has incredible on-ice vision and seems to know which of his teammates have an advantage. As a result, he will deliver some impressive passes that set up excellent scoring opportunities.
“How quickly his brain works is the part that really jumps out to you,” Boston College head coach Greg Brown said. “He sees opportunities so quickly and has the skill set to be able to capitalize on those. He just has great offensive ideas. He reads his teammates well, he reads the opponents well, and he’s able to generate offense on a very consistent basis.”
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