7. New York Rangers
Strengths: The Rangers have excellent forward prospects, led by 2009 first round draft selection Chris Kreider. In addition to three diminutive snipers, including Chris Thomas, Ryan Bourque and Mats Zuccarello, the Rangers also have Carl Hagelin and Roman Horak, each of whom is expected to be a third-line contributor. New York's recent drafting and one trade with Montreal in 2009 have also brought some excellent defensive prospects into the organization, with Ryan McDonagh already contributing at the NHL level, and Pavel Valentenko and Tomas Kundratek no more than a year away. Weaknesses: The Rangers are weak in goaltending prospects, with only two free agents and a junior netminder in the organization. None of those netminders projects to be a number one goaltender in the NHL, and there are questions whether any of them will even be able to serve as an NHL backup in the coming years. Top 5 Prospects: 1. Chris Kreider, LW, 2. Ryan McDonagh, D, 3. Christian Thomas, RW, 4. Evgeny Grachev, C, 5. Mats Zuccarello, LW. Lost to graduation: Derek Stepan, Michael Sauer.
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