NYR Prospect Rankings: 16-20

In the second part of our article series that counts down the top-25 prospects in the New York Rangers’ pipeline, our draft and prospect analysts Rich Coyle, George Obremski, Shawn Taggart and Drew Way give their thoughts and analysis on the prospects that ranked 16-20 in our aggregate site rankings. Our 16-20 ranked prospects is perhaps the most interesting article in the series, as there was the most variance in our rankings with these 5 players than any other 5-player grouping that will appear in this series. For example, Ville Meskanen was ranked as high as 12^th by one analyst, and as low as 27^th by another. Same goes for Ryan Lindgren, who appeared as high as 13^th and as low as 29^th in the individual rankings of our analysts.

As a reminder, our process of creating our aggregate top-25 prospect rankings was each analyst individually and independently created their own top-30, and then we combined them all into an Excel spreadsheet and averaged out all of the ranks to get the aggregate list. We use Calder trophy eligibility as our definition of whether a player is a prospect or not. All player profile information is courtesy of eliteprospects, unless otherwise noted.

If you missed our first piece discussing our 21-25 ranked prospects, you can check it out here. As always, please feel free to reach out to any of us on Twitter if you have any questions or feedback. Thanks, and enjoy!

Player Profile:

• Date of Birth: September 2, 1999 (19)
• Nation: Sweden
• Position: Defense
• Height: 6’ 1’’
• Weight: 179 lbs
• Shoots: Left
• Drafted: 2017, 145^th overall pick (round 5)
• 2019-2020 Team: Leksands (SHL)

Rich – Calle Själin is a prospect many Rangers fans seem to forget about. He is one of the more underrated, less-talked about prospects in the system.

Själin is a dependable two-way defenseman. I think there is one word that describes his game perfectly. Simple. Själin has good size and skates well. He is an efficient puck mover who isn’t overly aggressive and thus doesn’t make many mistakes. Själin missed a huge chunk of the season after getting injured in training camp. We might’ve seen him at the World Juniors with Sweden if said injury didn’t keep him out until almost Christmas. Nonetheless, Själin still accrued 7 points in 20 games with Leksands in Allsvenskan—which is pretty good considering he missed half the season.

He is contractually obligated to Leksands (who just got promoted to the SHL) for the next two seasons, and frankly there isn’t a better place for his development. If he can avoid injury, I think he’s a solid bet to make it to the NHL as a middle-pairing defender.

George – Picked in the 5^th round of the 2017 draft, Calle is a prospect that’s a project in that he will take multiple years to reach the pros. Since he’s a defenseman and the Rangers decided to spend most of their picks in 2018 on that position, it will be tough for him to reach the NHL level. He’s a smooth skater with some offensive ability but like Ragnarsson and Lindgren, he’s more known for his defensive ability. He didn’t play until December last season thanks to an injury he sustained during training last September.

Because of his injury, his development was slowed a bit but that shouldn’t be a concern as it was already projected that he would need 3 to 4 years before he could come over. He will play this upcoming season in the SHL and this year will be big for his development.

Shawn – With Själin, the first thing I wonder about him is if he’s going to be a player that gets lost in the shuffle because of the talent around him, being a little far superior to him. He has all the tools to be someone particularly special, but with the Rangers seemingly stocking up on defensive prospects, that are in cases more ahead of the curve in terms of them being ready sooner for the Rangers.

What they do have is someone that is sound in their own end, who has a good eye for the defensive side of the game. Not trying to push him down any more, but he’s a solid get in your own end, who can help dictate the rush upward. It’s going to be something worth noting to see if he can become a full two-way defender, in his continuing growth as a player.

To me Själin, could jump over some of the other defensive prospects that the Rangers have, it’s just up to him, and really the Rangers if that jump is worth having him stick around for.

Drew – Själin is a much more talented defenseman than he gets credit for, and in my opinion he’s among the most underrated prospects in the Rangers’ pipeline. He’s an incredibly smooth puck mover, and seemingly has a natural ability to glide through the neutral zone with ease with the puck on his stick and help his team establish possession in the offensive zone. He has a calming presence on the ice and a safeness to his game; he hardly ever makes an overly risky play and rarely makes any obvious mistakes. Further, despite his general reputation as a more defense-oriented defenseman, in his draft year he put up 15 points in 34 games in the Swedish Division 1 (HockeyEttan) league, which won him the award for most points by a U18 rookie.

In my opinion, Själin’s game is prototypical of a modern defenseman; while he does not demonstrate dynamic offensive skill, he possesses a great combination of positional awareness, hockey IQ, puck moving ability and passing that should allow him to become a solid and reliable possession-driving defenseman with the ability to play in any situation. With proper development I’m confident he’ll have an NHL career.

Unfortunately, the “with proper development” statement comes with a caveat. Själin has amassed a rather extensive injury history for such a young player, which is part of the reason why he fell to the 5^th round in 2017. Last year alone he sustained a leg injury in the fall while training that caused him to miss the start of the season and a concussion courtesy of a terribly dirty hit, which unfortunately was at least the second concussion on record that he has sustained. If Själin can stay healthy this year, I think he can take a major step forward in his development, and wind up much higher in our prospect ranks this time next year. Unfortunately, I must place a major emphasis on the “if” part of my prior sentence.

Scouting Grades:

• Skating – B
• Playmaking – B+
• Puck Skills – B
• Shot – B-
• Hockey Sense/IQ – A-
• Physicality – C+

Player Profile:

• Date of Birth: October 2, 1995 (23)
• Nation: Finland
• Position: Right Wing
• Height: 6’ 1’’
• Weight: 181 lbs
• Shoots: Right
• Drafted: Undrafted, signed with NYR in 2018
• 2019-2020 Team: Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL)

Rich – Ville Meskanen is an intriguing winger prospect that the Rangers signed out of Finland after the 2017-18 season. Meskanen, essentially a lottery ticket, is a goal-scoring winger with a good shot.

After scoring at nearly a PPG rate for Ilves in Liiga in 2017-18, Meskanen came over to the disaster that was Hartford for the 2018-19 season. He did well to start the season, scoring 15 points in his first 25 games for the Wolfpack. As the dumpster fire got worse and worse, more zeros started popping up on the scoresheet for Meskanen. Of the 70 games that Meskanen played in this season, he failed to record a point in 42 of them. Despite this, Meskanen finished the season as the leading U-23 scorer for Hartford (12-22-34 in 70GP). He had a point on 18% of the goals that Hartford scored this season. When you consider how bad Hartford was this season (as has been and will continue to be discussed a ton in this series), that is relatively good for Meskanen.

While we should disregard much of what happened in Hartford this season, I think it’s important to highlight the bright spots. Ville Meskanen was one of them. He struggled with consistency (highlighted by being held pointless in 42 games) but still showed a ton of promise. As for his future, I don’t think it’s very far-fetched that we could see Meskanen playing with the Rangers this upcoming season. I think he could fit into a bottom-six scoring role quite nicely if given decent linemates.

George – The offensively-gifted forward signed as a free agent with the Rangers after his 2017-18 season with Ilves of Liiga. He produced at a high level on the bigger ice surface and registered 24 goals and 20 assists in 48 games. Once he made his debut season with Hartford, he struggled to get used to the smaller ice. He ended last season with 12 goals and 22 assists in 70 games in Hartford. He is a very good shooter and has the ability to put the puck on net and in bunches as he likes to shoot. He has a hard slap shot that is also very accurate and his release is quick.

With the depth at the wings the Rangers have at the NHL level, it’s unlikely that Meskanen will crack the lineup out of camp and he will be sent to the AHL for the final year of his ELC. He could be an injury call up if needed but there are others that are ahead of him in the depth chart on the wing so it’s unlikely.

Shawn – This right winger spent most of his time in Hartford last season and will likely start there this season as well. We did see a lot of promise from Meskanen as the year went on, so his continued development in Hartford should be decent enough for the Rangers to truly be happy about.

While some work needs to be done in his own end a bit, he does tend to go to the dirty area’s a tad bit more than some of his Hartford teammates. It helps being big at 6’1”, but he’ll need to bulk up a bit, as he does tend to get pushed around a bit while fighting those battles. I see him taking another step and continuing to be more of a complete player. Someone where the Rangers can go and use him in a bottom six role, and a call-up during the season if needed.

Drew – Personally, I had Meskanen ranked 27^th in my own rankings, so that should tell you a lot about how I feel about having to discuss him at 19^th right now. He’s already 23 years old and will turn 24 shortly after the season kicks off, and I’m not convinced he’ll be anything more than a depth piece in the NHL. While he has some skills that stand out, his skating is average at best and could hinder his ability to succeed at the NHL level. Further, despite being a goal scorer, I don’t think his shot is anything special, and he lacks any real puck skills that could help differentiate him from some of his peers. Don’t get me wrong, his shot is fine, and as you’ll see below I gave him a perfectly respectable B grade for it, but I don’t feel it’s as strong as some make it out to be.

He started off strong for Hartford last year and was one of the few producing consistently for about the first half of the season. However, he was atrocious to close the year, and while the blame for that likely lies at least partially in the fact that the team was completely stripped down to bare bones after the NHL trade deadline, it also certainly lies at Meskanen’s feet as well. For one reason or another, maybe I just like to torture myself, I watched a number of Hartford games towards the end of the year, and to say Meskanen appeared unengaged is probably putting it lightly. Because of the style of game he plays—playing in front of the net and using his strength to help gain position and earn scoring opportunities—perhaps it is just a bit more evident when he’s not necessarily giving it his all compared to others.

Despite my pessimism over his stature as a legit NHL prospect, there are a number of things to like if you’re still holding onto hope. He has decent size and is very strong on his skates; despite being of about average weight for his height, he is remarkably difficult to knock off the puck or out of position, and he has looked dominant at times in front of the net because of it. He has shown a proclivity for producing at 5 on 5, and goal scoring has certainly been his forte throughout his career. This was particularly true in Finland, when he notched 24 goals in 48 games in his final season with Ilves before signing with the Rangers, which was good for 3^rd most in Liiga that year. Further, despite his reputation as a goal scorer, he’s a better playmaker than he gets credit for, and often makes smart passes that put his teammates in good position to make a play.

Scouting Grades:

• Skating – C+
• Playmaking – B
• Puck Skills – C
• Shot – B
• Hockey Sense/IQ – B
• Physicality – B+

Player Profile:

• Date of Birth: February 11, 1998 (21)
• Nation: USA
• Position: Defense
• Height: 6’ 0’’
• Weight: 198 lbs
• Shoots: Left
• Drafted: 2016, 49^th overall pick (round 2 by the Boston Bruins)
• 2019-2020 Team: Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL)

Rich – I have been relatively low on Lindgren ever since I started doing prospect analysis almost 2 years ago. I personally would’ve asked for someone else in the Rick Nash trade.

Lindgren’s play style is that of an “old-school” defenseman. A guy who blocks shots, loves to play physical, and displays extreme toughness. He’s a good, mobile skater and can move the puck OK, but that part of his game is nothing to rave about. He doesn’t provide much offense, as evidenced by his stat line in Hartford this past season (0-12-12 in 65GP). He had a short stint with the Rangers this season, but he didn’t show us much other than the horrendous penalties he took.

Looking to the future, I think the best possible outcome for Lindgren would be becoming a bottom-pairing defenseman. The good news for Lindgren is that he is one of the safest prospects in the system. However, there is nothing that he showed me in the previous two seasons that leads me to believe he has any real offensive upside. I think even to become a shutdown defenseman in today’s day and age, you need to show some offensive ability, and Lindgren doesn’t have that. Combine that with the fact that the Rangers have a plethora of left-handed defense prospects and I’m not so sure Lindgren finds a permanent NHL job with the Rangers. He might have to look elsewhere.

George – Acquired when the New York Rangers traded Rick Nash to the Bruins, Ryan Lindgren is a strong stay at home defensemen with some good skating ability. He signed his ELC after the Rangers traded for him and he played the majority of last season in the AHL with a brief stint with the Rangers. He’s a good skater and is tough in the corners and in puck battles. He is more known for his defensive play but he has some ability in the offensive zone. That being said, it is very unlikely that he will every put up points and will be more suited to play with someone who is willing to join the rush. He is able to read the play well and with his skating ability, he can pressure opposing forwards quickly and with ease.

Since he won’t get many points, he won’t be in the limelight and his defensive play will have to stand out in order for him to have a chance to make the NHL level. As a left-handed shot, he will have some competition with prospects such as Hajek and Rykov as well as veterans such as Staal to get that last LD position. He should get a long look at camp, but I think he’ll just fall short and could play top minutes in Hartford, which might be best for his development.

Shawn – I expect a lot figured that out of Libor Hajek and Lindgren, that Lindgren would get more of a deeper look and a chance on Broadway, during his first full professional season but that wasn’t the case. Acquired from the Bruins during the Rick Nash deal back in the 2017-2018 season, Lindgren is more known for his work around the crease, clearing it out for his goaltender than his offensive ability.

He showed some growing pains during his first full year in Hartford, but still is in the Rangers plans, at least for the short term. He could really be a good stay-at-home defenseman, as he has shown flashes of being more comfortable in a shut-down role as the season went on. It’ll be something worth watching as we head into Lindgren’s second full pro season.

Drew – To us an admittedly lazy comparison, Ryan Lindgren is a poor man’s Matthew Robertson, the Rangers’ 2^nd round pick this year taken at 49^th overall, and whom we will get to later in this prospect ranking series. By this I mean that Lindgren is a smooth-skating, defense-first defenseman who fits the mold of a modern defensive defenseman; however, Lindgren is just a worse version of this than Robertson with considerably less updside. The calling card to Lindgren’s game is most definitely his defensive prowess, but he’s also commonly complimented on his leadership abilities and maturity.

Lindgren is a powerful defender who uses his body well, can clear out the front of the net with the best of them and is damn difficult to beat in a board battle. He is a smooth and powerful skater, but lacks the agility of a true high-end skater. He possesses a heavy slap shot, but for one reason or another refuses to use it as often as he should. He has no qualms with laying a big hit, and for most of his career was very smart at choosing when to (and more importantly when to not) throw a hit; however, last year was a very different case in my viewings of him, and seemingly every game I watched he ended up out of position multiple times thanks to him chasing a hit.

I agree with most pundits when they say Lindgren has a high floor as a prospect, and if I were ranking all Ranger prospects on the sole basis of likelihood to play 100 NHL games, I’d have him much higher on my list. However, no player in the Rangers pipeline has as little space between their floor and ceiling in my opinion, and I think his floor is a 7^th defenseman/injury replacement, while his ceiling is a 3^rd pairing defenseman that gets some penalty killing time. Ranger fans and writers talk a lot about the logjam in the defensive pipeline; because of the still old-fashioned thinking of many NHL GMs and the number of defenseman I have ranked above Lindgren in my rankings, Lindgren would be a prime candidate for me to move in a deal for a player at a greater position of need if I’m GM Jeff Gorton.

Scouting Grades:

• Skating – B+
• Playmaking – B-
• Puck Skills – C
• Shot – B+
• Hockey Sense/IQ – B
• Physicality – A-

Player Profile:

• Date of Birth: September 12, 1999 (19)
• Nation: Finland
• Position: Right Wing
• Height: 6’ 0’’
• Weight: 183 lbs
• Shoots: Right
• Drafted: 2018, 132^nd overall pick (round 5)
• 2019-2020 Team: TPS (Liiga)

Rich – After getting drafted as an overager in 2018, Lauri Pajuniemi struggled to establish a spot for himself within the TPS lineup where he could get sufficient minutes and provide meaningful offense. As a result, he only put up 13 points in 44 games from a bottom-six role.

In my limited viewings, I found myself becoming a big fan of Pajuniemi’s game. He is a highly intelligent playmaking forward who has shown some flashes of having high-end skill. However, he needs to carve out a top-six role for himself with TPS next season. TPS is losing Kaapo Kakko AND Petrus Palmu to North America next season, so the time is now for Pajuniemi to seize the opportunity that is in front of him. As for his NHL outlook, I think Pajuniemi is more than capable of becoming a bottom-six scoring forward.

George – Pajuniemi was the 2^nd forward drafted by the Rangers in the 2018 draft after they drafted Kravtsov, a goalie and 5 defensemen. He is a highly-skilled forward who played for TPS of Liiga (same team as our Lord & Savior, PraiseBe) and was a solid depth player for them this past season. He likes to have the puck in the offensive zone and has good control in tight places. He plays at a high pace and has shown he can control the puck equally at a high pace as well as in a slow pace, if needed. He is very good skater and has good edgework as well as agility & quickness. He’s also a hard worker who is very good in his own end as he’s had time on the PK for TPS.

With his skating ability and offense, he should take a step forward this upcoming season as the TPS RW depth should take a hit with Kakko playing for the Rangers this year. This year could be a huge year for his development as he could be a productive forward for TPS and in a few years, he could be a very good depth player for the Rangers on the RW.

Shawn – A teammate of Kaapo Kakko with TPS, Pajuniemi, has some familiarity with at least one of the players that the Rangers have drafted this year. Pajuniemi looks like a guy who could be a middle six player, between the second and third line, mainly third but has no problem being plugged into other areas of the lineup if need be. Think of a Jesper Fast type.

Besides liking Pajuniemi for reminding me of Fast, I also just feel his speed could be a game changer, that not many people like to talk about. His east to west speed as he skates down the ice is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

To me he has all the tools to be a fundamentally sound player for the Rangers, really filling in on a defensive aspect a little more and could easily cause some havoc.

Drew – I had Pajuniemi ranked 19^th in my rankings, two spots higher than here in our aggregate ranks, and admittedly that rank felt a little too high given the relatively lackluster season he had last year with TPS (hey, did we mention yet that was Kaapo Kakko’s team!?). However, I’m betting on his underlying skillset here with my rank, and I feel a large reason for his limited production—just 7 goals and 6 assists in 44 games, good for 13^th on the team—was the depth of TPS’ crop of wingers. In addition to Kakko, they also have Zach Budish—former Nashville Predators 2^nd round pick who has proven to be a very reliable Liiga contributor—Otto Nieminen—a skilled winger on the younger side who had a true breakout season last year—Patrick Bjorkstrand, brother of NHLer Oliver Bjorkstrand, who had a down year last year for TPS but put up 37 points the previous year for KooKoo—and Petrus Palmu—an undersized but skilled 2017 6^th round pick of the Cancuks who put up 18 points in just 29 games with TPS, and 36 points in 59 games the previous season.

I understand, you are here to learn about Pajuniemi and not about TPS, but I think the quality of wingers he was competing against for ice time is a very important distinction to make when discussing his 2018-2019 season. He admitted that he struggled with self-confidence at the onset of the season, but as the year went along he grew more comfortable and performed better. In terms of his skill profile, he is a well-rounded player with few blatant holes in his game.

He’s most known as a skilled playmaking wing, but he worked a lot on his defensive game this past year and was awarded with increased penalty kill usage. He’s a balanced and agile skater with good quickness and can change directions on a dime. While playmaking is what he is most known for, he has a sneaky good shot, with a quick release and good accuracy. He has good, but not elite, puck skills, and has shown an above-average ability to handle in tight spaces without turning it over. His strength and physicality are probably the weakest areas of his game, which is common for a teenager. Overall, I expect Pajuniemi to have a larger role with TPS next season and I fully anticipate him putting up much better numbers, leading to him being a candidate to receive an ELC with the Rangers in the off-season.

Scouting Grades:

• Skating – A-
• Playmaking – B+
• Puck Skills – B
• Shot – B
• Hockey Sense/IQ – B-
• Physicality – C

Player Profile:

• Date of Birth: September 23, 1999
• Nation: Sweden
• Position: Defense
• Height: 6’ 0’’
• Weight: 176 lbs
• Shoots: Left
• Drafted: 2018, 70^th overall pick (round 3)
• 2019-2020 Team: Rögle (SHL)

Rich – Jakob Ragnarsson was one of the few picks that the Rangers made on day two of the 2018 NHL Draft that I actually liked.

Ragnarsson’s draft year numbers in the Allsvenskan were very promising. He set some relatively high expectations for himself coming into the 2018-19 season. Unfortunately for him, he ran into a perfect storm of bad things. He suffered some injuries that prevented him from really getting going in the beginning of 2018-19, and he also got cut from the Swedish World Junior team (which surely wasn’t good for his confidence). In addition, his team Almtuna was absolutely dreadful and almost ended up getting relegated from Allsvenskan.

Next season, Ragnarsson will be playing for Rögle in the SHL. I’m intrigued to see how he plays against elevated competition. I really do like him as an NHL prospect, and I see Ragnarsson having a similar upside to Calle Själin. I think Ragnarsson can become a decent middle-pairing defenseman, but he still needs at least another year or two in the SHL.

George – The Rangers drafted a boatload of defensemen in the 2018 NHL draft, with Ragnarsson being one of them. Ragnarsson has a great floor and he will be more of a defender than an offensive defenseman and I have seen comparisons to former Ranger Dan Girardi. Ragnarsson played for a middle of the pack team in Almtuma of Allsvenskan in his draft year and he played a large role in the team’s success. In the 2018-19 season, Almtuma struggled and because of that, Ragnarsson’s numbers took a hit as he had 6 assists in 37 games played.

He has good skating ability and has fluid strides that allows him to jump up on the rush when needed. He is more known for his defensive play as he has a long reach and is able to pressure opposing forwards when they are attacking. He’s someone that works hard and is tough to move when he’s set.

He will play in the SHL next season for Rögle BK and this could be a huge step for his development. He is someone who will need another year or two to develop but giving his underrated offensive ability and strong defensive play, he could be a solid depth defenseman in the future.

Shawn – To me, he’s somewhat of a sleeper prospect for the Rangers on defense, more so than Själin. He can be something downright special for this team and is another one that sees the ice pretty well. However, the Rangers have many ahead of Ragnarsson in the pipeline as of now, but still to me Ragnarsson will develop further and leapfrog some of our favorites.

Ragnarsson gets a chance to prove himself as he moves into the SHL, the most prominent league in Sweden and once of the best leagues in the world. Making it to the SHL by age 19 is a great look for Ragnarsson, and he’ll now be able to play against the best in Sweden. Someone to definitely keep an eye out for, and it’ll be interesting to see how he adjusts and develops as the season goes on.

Drew – Similar to Pajuniemi, Ragnarsson had a disappointing season last year—in fact his season was far more disappointing that Pajuniemi’s—but also similar to Lauri, I’m not remotely close to giving up on Ragnarsson, and I feel a lot of his down season is attributable to circumstances out of his control. He had an injury at the onset of the year which, according to an interview he gave (warning, this article is in Swedish), kept him away from hockey for five weeks. While there was no mention of what the injury was (nor could I find one anywhere), Ragnarsson did state, “When I came back, things did not go very well, but I think it went better and better for each match.” So, by the sounds of things, not only did the injury lead to him losing 5 weeks of practice/game time, but it also contributed to a slow start once he finally was on the ice. In addition to the injury issues, he also played for a woeful Almtuna (Allsvenskan) team that recorded only 15 regulation wins in 52 games.

Despite his poor season, Rögle of the SHL offered Ragnarsson a contract to play in the nation’s top league next year, where he will play with fellow Rangers prospect Adam Edström. I firmly believe that Ragnarsson’s overall skillset will lend itself will to allowing him to have a very strong season for Rögle next year. He is a balanced and fluid skater who excels in the defensive zone but also possesses a well-rounded skillset that should allow him to develop into a reliable two-way player than can play in any situation.

He has a good shot, particularly his wrist shot, and has demonstrated the ability to consistently get his shot through traffic onto the net. He has a non-stop motor, is confident and patient with the puck on his stick and excels in transition. He also has decent hands, good passing ability and strong instincts, and rarely makes overly risky plays that cost his team. He probably won’t ever put up gaudy point totals, but the combination of his skating, puck skills and IQ should allow him to become a possession-driving defenseman at the NHL level if develops properly.

Scouting Grades:

• Skating – B+
• Playmaking – B
• Puck Skills – B
• Shot – B
• Hockey Sense/IQ – B+
• Physicality – B-