Rangers' Top Prospects Shine | New York Rangers News

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It's July 14th. You're listening to New York Rangers News Today, AI-powered coverage of your squad. All right, let's talk about the NHL prospect scene. There's this annual ranking that drops, and the New York Rangers are making some noise. They've got three players on this list of the top 100 prospects, and two of them are actually in the top 20 Defenseman Alberts Smits landed at number 9, and forward Gabe Perreault is right behind him at 19
Liam Greentree also made the cut at 91
Now, the criteria for this list is pretty straightforward. You gotta be under 23 and not already a full blown NHL regular. The top two spots went to Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg, who were drafted 1 and 2 this year. Third place is Porter Martone, who already put up 10 points in 9 games this past spring. Smits and Perreault are in what they call Tier 2, which is a group of 24 players ranked between 5 and 28 When it comes to Alberts Smits, he was the Rangers' fifth overall pick this year. He's 18 and expected to battle for a spot on defense when training camp kicks off. Some folks were a little surprised. The Rangers picked him over Chase Reed, who went number 7 to Seattle. But the expert who put this list together really likes Smits' confidence, his puck skills for a defenseman, his size and his skating. He thinks Smits has the potential to be a first pairing guy.
Gabe Perreault is likely on his last prospect list because he already played a solid rookie season last year, putting up 27 points and even. Finishing on the top line, the expert on this list is Hion Pereo, calling him one of the most talented and offensively smart prospects out there. He's praised for his playmaking and how he thinks the game, basically saying you ignore his talent at your own risk. Liam Greentree just squeaked into the top 100 The Rangers got him in the Artemi Panarin trade, and he's turning pro this fall.
He's got the size, but the expert notes some concerns about his skating and whether his skills have plateaued. Still, he's got offensive tools and is getting better. We'll see if he steps it up when he goes pro.