The NHL draft is over, which means it is that time where everyone and their mother publishes an article providing their draft grades for their favorite NHL team. Last year we tried to take a slightly different approach and published a draft recap roundtable, and then almost all of the follow-up questions we received were related to how we would grade individual picks. Fine, you all win, we are just doing a normal draft grades article this year!
The 2020 draft was crazy for many reasons: a super deep forward talent pool, not many defenseman to choose from at the top (more on this later), a global pandemic leading to an October virtual draft, and the (joking) fact that someone clearly slipped some very strong stimulants into Craig Button’s beverage because he just couldn’t stop from shouting all night long during the first round coverage!
Alright, enough of the messing around. Here are the draft grades! Below, you will find the aggregate grades for the Rangers overall draft and each individual pick, and you will also find individual grades and summary analysis from each of our draft analysts: Rich Coyle, George Obremski and Drew Way.
Round 1, Pick 1: Alexis Lafrenière
Site Draft Grade: A+
Prospect Profile:
- Position: Left Wing
- Team (league): Rimouski (QMJHL)
- Nation: Canada
- Birth Date: October 11, 2001
- Handedness: Left
- Height & Weight: 6’ 1’’, 192 lbs
Drew Way: A+
I’m not sure what else there is to be said about Alexis Lafrenière. He was the clear top choice in this draft, and I had him on a tier of his own at one. He’s comfortably in the argument for best winger prospect of the last decade, and he projects to be a perennial all-star.
Rich Coyle: A+
How can you give Alexis Lafrenière anything other than an A+? By getting swept in the play-in round against Carolina, the Rangers earned a 12.5% chance at winning the Lafrenière sweepstakes, which they did! Lafrenière is a transcendent talent that will become the face of the franchise and (hopefully) lead the Rangers to a Stanley Cup over the course of his career. Lafrenière isn’t McDavid, but no one is doubting his superstar potential.
George Obremski: A+
Best player in this year’s draft without a doubt. He is a Franchise altering prospect for any team. He is extremely skilled, has one of the best hands in this year’s draft, quick shot, high-end skating and plays with a level of grit that most first overall picks don’t have. Lafrenière can be a top-6 forward on the Rangers from day 1 and the sky is the limit for his potential. It will be really fun watching him at the Garden for years to come.
Round 1, Pick 19 (traded 72 and 22 for 19): Braden Schneider
Site Draft Grade: C+
Prospect Profile:
- Position: Defense
- Team (league): Brandon (WHL)
- Nation: Canada
- Birth Date: September 20, 2001
- Handedness: Right
- Height & Weight: 6’ 2’’, 209 lbs
Drew Way: C+
If you want my gut-reaction take to this, go check out Thursday’s episode of the Blueshirts Breakaway podcast, where you can here me throw a temper tantrum about this maneuver and selection.
Yes, I get it, the vast majority of the traditional draft pundits had him rated in the 10-25 range, so it was certainly not a reach to take Schneider here. If you like the pick and agree with the endless amount of NHL scouts and professional draft pundits, I certainly will not tell you that you are wrong for doing so.
I am the outlier here in that I personally had Braden Schneider rated as a mid-second round talent. Let’s be clear, I hope I am wrong. I will desperately root for Braden Schneider to make me look like an idiot for not liking this pick. My quick scouting report on Schneider is that he is a very good defensive defensemen—one of the best in the draft in fact—and that he is big, strong, skates pretty well for his size, and knows how to use these physical tools to his advantage. He is also a willing puck mover—although not the most efficient—has a decent shot and does look for his spots to get involved in the offensive end of the ice more than he gets credit for. However, I think he leaves a lot to be desired as a puck handler and does have room for improvement with his skating, particularly backwards, and he can be beaten to the outside by more talented opposing forwards. Also, he is one of the older players and more physically mature players in the draft, and I am worried a lot of his defensive success is a direct result of this.
Schneider is still fairly raw and can absolutely improve and make me look foolish in a few years. Here’s to hoping the happens!
Rich Coyle: C
My grade on the Schneider pick might be harsh in the eyes of some. Schneider got picked right where the consensus expected him to get picked. However, I had Schneider ranked in a tier that extended from the late 2nd round into the early 3rd round. I am by no means saying Schneider is a bad player. In my player evaluations, I am admittedly biased towards offensively inclined puck-moving defenseman. Schneider is a big two-way defenseman who is sound in all zones.
Similarly to Matthew Robertson (whom I had ranked in a similar range last year), I have questions about his upside, and would not have picked him at #19. Furthermore, right defense is already a logjam for the Rangers, and Nils Lundkvist hasn’t even signed yet. This is not a pick the Rangers needed to make in my eyes. When you consider the Rangers traded up from #22 to #19 and gave up #72 in the process, the sour taste in my mouth just gets worse. I had my eyes on three players with this second 1st round pick—Mavrik Bourque, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Connor Zary. All of those players were ranked inside my top-25.
George Obremski: C+
Schneider is a stay at home defenseman who I personally had ranked in the 2nd round. If we drafted him in our original position (22), I would have been ok, but not thrilled with this pick. That being said, he’s a good skater for his size and plays a strong, physical game in his own end. He uses physical play and smart stick positioning to take the puck away from opponents. He is a year or two away from the NHL but once here, likely will be a mainstay on the penalty kill and could end up being a solid top-4 defenseman.
Round 2, Pick 60: Will Cuylle
Site Draft Grade: C+
Prospect Profile:
- Position: Left wing
- Team (league): Windsor (OHL)
- Nation: Canada
- Birth Date: February 5, 2002
- Handedness: Left
- Height & Weight: 6’ 3’’, 203 lbs
Drew Way: B-
Will Cullye is a big, bruising forward who admits that he models his game after Tom Wilson and possesses a strong and effective shot. Dirty play issues aside, at surface level this sounds like a good pick and someone that fills an organizational need for the Rangers.
The problem is however, a significant contributor to Tom Wilson’s success is that he is a very good skater for a player of any size, but particularly a power forward. Will Cullye is not the level of skater that Tom Wilson is, and that will perhaps be his biggest hurdle to how well his game translates to the NHL.
At the end of the day, the Rangers drafted a high-floor kid that likely will make the NHL and have a long career, and for that reason I will not kill the pick itself as much as some others have. My problem is they passed on a lot of more talented players to make this selection, and I personally felt Cullye was much more suited to go late in the third or earlier in the fourth as opposed to at the end of the second. Long story short, I think the player if fine, but the value of where he was selected leaves much to be desired.
Rich Coyle: C
A lot of my criticisms for the Schneider pick also carry over to the Will Cuylle pick. The Rangers left a lot of talent on the board when drafting Cuylle. Although Cuylle was drafted in his expected range, I had him ranked in the middle of the 3rd round. Cuylle is a guy the Rangers drafted because they “want to be tougher to play against”. He is a gritty scoring forward who I have seen some liken to Tom Wilson. I think the most likely scenario is that Cuylle becomes a bottom-six guy who satisfies the “grit” element while also potting 20ish goals per season. After the Rangers made this pick, two crafty wingers whom I had ranked in the first round in Kasper Simontaival and Daniil Guschin proceeded to get drafted in the next 16 picks. Cuylle is not a bad player, but the Rangers could have oozed more value out of the pick they acquired for Lias Andersson.
George Obremski: C
A very physical goal-scoring forward who says he models his game to Tom Wilson. Given his 6’ 3” frame, he is an effective skater that has long strides and his edge work is solid. He leverages his size and strength to get to the slot and fight his way, usually through rather than around defenders, for loose pucks. He has a good shot that is accurate and hard, and has the ability to make its way to the net from multiple areas. He has the potential to be a solid bottom-6 forward which every team needs but would rather have drafted a player with a higher upside with this pick.
Round 3, Pick 92: Oliver Tärnström
Site Draft Grade: B+
Prospect Profile:
- Position: Center
- Team (league): AIK (Allsvenskan)
- Nation: Sweden
- Birth Date: August 30, 2002
- Handedness: Left
- Height & Weight: 6’ 1’’, 163 lbs
Drew Way: B+
While there was still some considerable, more well-known talent on the board when the Rangers selected the son of former Penguins defensemen Dick Tärnström, I am not going to let that change the fact that this was a good upside swing pick for the Rangers at the tail-end of the third round. He has the style of game many of you reading this will love—hard-working, decisive, two-way center that has good hands and playmaking ability and can effectively drive possession. He is also one of the youngest players in this class and has a lot of room to physically mature—when he does I think his game can really take off.
Rich Coyle: B
The Rangers made a solid pick by nabbing Tärnström at #92. Some have argued that this might have been early, but I didn’t mind taking a slight reach on a player with upside. I wasn’t familiar with Tärnström until later in the draft cycle, but after some research I discovered he is a player I like. He was the best player on a bad SuperElit team in AIK. He’s a skilled center who processes the game well, but needs to fill out the rest of his game. He has started the season with AIK J20 in SuperElit, but it wouldn’t shock me to see him up with the big club in Allsvenskan at some point this season. I think Tärnström’s ceiling is that of a 3rd line scoring center.
George Obremski: B+
A skilled forward that has great hands and skating ability to make great plays in the offensive zone to create offense. He is a very good skater with good speed and effective edgework. He’s highly competitive but still needs to some time to add some muscle. Will need a few years in the SHL to fully develop but has the potential to a middle-6 forward.
Round 4, Pick 103: Dylan Garand
Site Draft Grade: B+
Prospect Profile:
- Position: Goalie
- Team (league): Kamloops (WHL)
- Nation: Canada
- Birth Date: June 7, 2002
- Handedness: Left
- Height & Weight: 6’ 1’’, 172 lbs
Drew Way: B+
Admittedly, I struggle with goalie prospect analysis, ESPECIALLY junior league goalies, so I like to rely on the analysis of those better suited to provide accurate goalie prospect analysis. Max—better known as TPE Hockey on Twitter—is my go-to for this stuff, and he provided me with the following quote when I asked his take on the Dylan Garand pick: “Ya he’s a great goalie and a nice pick up in the fourth. Solid technical goalie, sharp reflexes. I’m definitely a fan. Had him in the 3rd, I think my 4th [overall rated] goalie.”
Rich Coyle: B+
As you know with my draft rankings, I don’t rank goalies. I don’t feel confident in my ability to evaluate them properly as it is completely a different animal than evaluating skaters. However, after doing some research and speaking with several people in the know with Garand, the Rangers made a very good pick here. My good friend Max (@TPEHockey) loves the pick and has been raving about Garand since he entered the WHL a few years back. Garand posted a .921 save percentage in 42 games with Kamloops in the WHL this year. That’s very good for what is typically a relatively high scoring league.
Some people might question the goalie pick, given it is the strongest area of the Rangers system. However, the Rangers are playing the long game here with the Garand pick. Five years from now, Igor Shestyorkin, Tyler Wall, and Adam Huska won’t be prospects anymore. Who knows what will happen with Olof Lindbom. I can’t fault the Rangers for suring something up in advance.
George Obremski: B
A bit of an undersized goalie at 6’ 1’’, Garand is still a good pick here in the 4th round. He has a very good glove hand and plays a good position game. He is difficult to beat down low and while that usually leaves openings up high, he has a quick glove to make up for those openings. He played on a very good team this year but still posted solid numbers and will need a few years in the WHL before going pro.
Round 5, Pick 127: Evan Vierling
Site Draft Grade: A
Prospect Profile:
- Position: Center
- Team (league): Barrie (OHL)
- Nation: Canada
- Birth Date: June 20, 2002
- Handedness: Left
- Height & Weight: 6’ 0’’, 168 lbs
Drew Way: A
Evan Vierling, the former 2nd overall pick in the OHL entry draft behind only Quinton Byfield—I’m sure you’ve heard of him—represented tremendous value at this stage in the draft. I had him rated as a strong third-round candidate, so to get him in the fifth is good work by Jeff Gorton & company. Plus, when you consider that earlier on in the draft they packaged two of their seventh round picks for the opportunity to make this selection, it shows the Rangers (correctly) identified there was still a lot of talented players left on the board, and they made a great pick with Vierling.
Vierling is a skilled playmaker and good two-way player, and has a motor that runs for days. While he is more known for his playmaking, he has a good and deceptive shot at well, and is a threat from all areas of the offensive zone. Further, he is a tough and gritty kid, and has no fear going to any area of the ice. Mark my words: assuming he continues to develop as he should, this is a player Ranger fans will love once he makes his way to the NHL.
Rich Coyle: A
I absolutely loved this pick by the Rangers. Admittedly, I messed up on Vierling. I didn’t first see him play until June, which was after I released my final ranking. Had I ranked him, I think it’s fair to say he would have been firmly entrenched in my second round. I think Vierling’s stock was stagnant for a while playing for the Flint Firebirds this season. It wasn’t until he was traded to Barrie did he really elevate his play and catch my eye.
Vierling is a two-way dynamo who is very good in all areas of the ice. He is a great playmaker, but isn’t afraid to get physical in the “dirty” areas and ply his trade that way. He’s got a great shot, which is probably a lot better than he gets credit for. He’s always giving 110% when he’s on the ice, something a coach like David Quinn would love. Could we be looking at an eventual Brett Howden replacement? One can only hope. All jokes aside, I think Vierling will put up some big boy numbers in the OHL this year and really elevate his stock. The Rangers crushed it with this one.
George Obremski: A
I personally had him in my top 100; this is a great pick as Vierling is someone who has a competitive edge to his game on both ends of the ice. While there’s nothing that he does at an elite level, Vierling does everything at a solid level. Offensively he is a good skater, has good edgework, a strong shot and a quick release. Defensively he isn’t afraid to play in the corners and get physical. He needs a few more years in the OHL, but he has bottom-6 potential and could help on the 2nd PP unit if needed.
Round 5, Pick 134: Brett Berard
Site Draft Grade: A
Prospect Profile:
- Position: Left wing
- Team (league): U.S. National U18 (USDP)
- Nation: USA
- Birth Date: September 9, 2002
- Handedness: Left
- Height & Weight: 5’ 9’’, 163 lbs
Drew Way: A+
Brett Berard was comfortably one of the 3 best players left on the board when the Rangers made this selection, and I had him pegged as a player that would go in the late second round or early third. He is on the small side, but also one of the youngest players in the class and certainly has room to grow. He is a fantastically gifted offensive threat that has all of the skills to translate into an effective NHL player one day. He has an accurate shot with a quick release, is a very strong playmaker, is among the more decisive and confident players with the puck on his stick and is also excellent off the puck. He also has a very high motor, is a willing back-checker and better defensively than he generally gets credit for.
In my opinion, the Rangers got one of the steals of the draft in taking Brett Berard at 134 overall.
Rich Coyle: A
I wrote an article for The Prospect Network on the Top-10 American Prospects for the 2020 NHL Draft pre-pandemic, which can be found here. Here is what I had to say with regards to Berard: “Berard is an interesting player, being yet another smaller forward prospect at 5’9 155lbs. Berard is similar to previously mentioned Sean Farrell in the sense that he does many things good, but nothing really great. He is a good skater who is agile and can be very shifty. He’s got a pretty good shot with a quick release and scores a lot of goals (as evidenced by him leading the U-18’s in goals). Berard handles the puck just fine and can make some slick dishes to his teammates in addition to scoring the goals. He is competing hard on every shift, getting in tenaciously on the forecheck and never giving the opponents a break.
Berard is only a few days away from being eligible for the 2021 NHL Draft. That makes his season even more impressive as he is younger than almost all his peers. I’m not exactly sure what to make of his upside at the moment. I plan to get some more viewings in and eventually come out with a profile with my specificity for Berard in the near future. For now, he’s in the middle of my second round.”
Berard was one of “my guys,” who I would have loved to see the Rangers draft. The Rangers got fantastic value with this pick, and in all honesty, I would have been ecstatic with Berard where the Rangers got Will Cuylle. Berard will go on to a great NCAA school in Providence where he can take his time to develop. Berard won’t be one and done, and both he and the Rangers can afford to be patient with his development. I love this pick, and all of you should too.
George Obremski: A
Highly skilled, undersized forward for the U.S. National Team Development Program, Berard plays bigger than his size. I had him in my top 100 this year due to his hard to play against mentality and his offensive skill. He has a good shot and can make hard passes that makes defenders guessing. He will play for Providence next season and will need a few years and could end up being a middle-6 winger in a few years.
Round 6, Pick 165: Matthew Rempe
Site Draft Grade: C+
Prospect Profile:
- Position: Center
- Team (league): Seattle (WHL)
- Nation: Canada
- Birth Date: June 29, 2002
- Handedness: Right
- Height & Weight: 6’ 8’’, 236 lbs
Drew Way: B-
I’ll be honest, literally the only thing I knew about Matthew Rempe coming into the draft is that he is gigantic. I had seen him once or twice, mainly while checking out some opponents in doing my scouting, and my only takeaway was, “holy shit that is a tall kid.” In the games I saw him in, he looked very lean, and he was only in the low 200s in weight—which is very skinny for 6’ 8’’. However, he’s apparently put on a good amount of muscle in the past few months and is now listed at close to 240. Perhaps that speaks well to his work ethic?
I’ve got nothing else to add here. I’m fine with taking a flyer on a novelty gigantic center at this point and maybe he turns into something. Personally, I would’ve gone with a player like Veeti Miettinen, Kristian Tanus or Alexander Pashin here, all of whom were still available, but I’m not going to get too worked up over it.
Rich Coyle: C
I wasn’t really sure what to make of the Rempe pick when the Rangers drafted with pick #165 in the 6th round. As the Rangers typically do, they left some talent on the board to take a player they like. I wasn’t familiar with Rempe pre-draft, but it seems the Rangers got their version of Curtis Douglas/Jachym Kondelik. This past year was Rempe’s first in the WHL, and his numbers weren’t earth shattering, but they weren’t terrible for a rookie—posting a line of 12g-19a-31p in 47 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds. Rempe is an absolute behemoth of a human at 6’8.
From now on, I will refer to him as “The Mountain”. Scouting reports I have read say that he is very good in front of the net, works hard in all three zones, but definitely needs to improve his skating. I don’t like or dislike this pick for the Rangers. The Mountain could be something, or could be nothing, it all remains to be seen.
George Obremski: C+
At 6’8”, Rempe towers over others in the WHL. For his size, he’s a solid skater and has some skill to his game. He has good hands that allow him to play pucks in tight corners. Given his size, you’d expect him to play physical which he does as he’s not afraid to finish checks and create openings for his teammates. He has some solid upside but Rempe is a prospect that will take a number of years to fill out his size.
Round 7, Pick 197: Hugo Ollas
Site Draft Grade: C-
Prospect Profile:
- Position: Goalie
- Team (league): Linköping HC J20 (J20 SuperElit)
- Nation: Sweden
- Birth Date: April 24, 2002
- Handedness: Left
- Height & Weight: 6’ 8’’, 238 lbs
Drew Way: C-
As I said before, I’m not great with goalie analysis, and my friends that are don’t know much about this kid either, but all generally agree he’s not someone projected to make it to the NHL. He’s a humungous goaltender and eliteprospects has the following blurb about him on this profile page: “Ollas style in net is like a typical modern well-schooled goaltender; he goes down on his knees extremely early and uses his substantial 6’8 frame to stop pucks and to cut off shooting lanes. He never made any unnecessary movements and has a close to robotic way to handle himself.”
That said, I have no idea why they felt the need to get a second goaltender, especially considering the fact there were some talented players left on the board, such as Alexander Pashin, Adam Rask, and someone that might have the best hockey name ever—Gunnarwolfe Fontaine. Ok I admit that last one I really just threw in as an excuse to squeeze his name into this piece, but the point still stands!
Rich Coyle: D
The Rangers had one job with their 7th round pick. That was to draft Alexander Pashin. I had Alexander Pashin as my 31st ranked player and he was still available when the Rangers were on the clock at #197. Instead of going for the dynamic Russian winger, they opted for another behemoth of a human in 6’ 8’’ Swedish goalie Hugo Ollas. You guys know I don’t do goalies, so I had absolutely no idea who Ollas was. A quick look at EliteProspects shows that Ollas has generally posted decent save percentages over the course of his career. However, last season he posted a sub .900 save percentage across 23 games in both J18 Allsvenskan and J20 SuperElit.
The Rangers obviously see something in Ollas. They drafted some dude in the 7th round 20 years ago out of Frölunda. I think his name was Henrik Lundqvist or something like that. Might be the greatest player in Rangers history, but someone might have to fact check me on that. I hope the Rangers scouting staff sees this in 15 years after Ollas becomes fantastic and says “What a dummy this guy was!”. Until then, I will be bitter that the Rangers didn’t take Alexander Pashin here.
George Obremski: C
A 6’8” goalie who plays a solid positioning game and is able to get on his knees easily and quickly. He posted average numbers in the J20 SuperElit league but he does have a high ceiling. He will need some time to fill out his size and as a project, he will need at least 4 plus years before reaching the NHL.
Rangers Overall Draft Performance Analysis
Site Draft Grade: B
Drew Way: B+
My emotional tirade at the time of the Braden Schneider pick aside, I thought the Rangers did pretty well for themselves in this draft. Listen, when it comes down to it, they could have selected Alexis Lafrenière, then told Gary Bettman that they are forfeiting the rest of their picks because they don’t feel like sitting around for the rest of the draft, and I still would have given them probably a C+ because, they still are leaving the draft with Alexis Lafrenière. I was not a fan of the Cullye picks or their late picks, but I thought they did an excellent job in the middle, and completely knocked the cover off of the ball in round 5.
Rich Coyle: B-
The Rangers picked up a bonafide superstar talent with Alexis Lafrenière with the first pick. There isn’t much to be said with regards to him. They traded up from #22 to #19 (giving up one of their third rounders in the process) and opted to draft Braden Schneider instead of a center. By no means is Schneider a bad player, but the Rangers did not get great value with Schneider (whom I had ranked on a tier that extended from the backend of my second round to the early third round) and there were several centers still left on the board at the time. The Rangers then traded Lias Andersson for a 2nd round pick, taking Will Cuylle with that pick. Again, I don’t think Cuylle is a bad pick (ranked in the same range as Schneider) but there were still several players whom I had ranked in the first round left for the Rangers to take at that pick.
In the mid rounds, the Rangers made some solid picks. Oliver Tärnström is a sneaky good player. My goalie friends tell me Dylan Garand is a fine goalie prospect. Evan Vierling and Brett Berard were among my favorite players in the draft and both could go down as steals when it is all said and done. As for the Rangers late round picks, I wasn’t particularly enamored with either the Rangers 6th or 7th round pick in Matthew Rempe and Hugo Ollas.
George Obremski: B+
Drafting 1st overall really helps this grade. Rangers traded up to draft Schneider, who I had ranked in the 2nd round, really hurt the overall grade. I feel the Rangers reached with Cuylle and Tärnström but they did very well with the teams 4th and 5th round picks. Gerand has some good upside for a goalie and could end up being a starter in a few years. I really liked the Vierling and Berard picks as I had both in my top 100 rankings. At the end of the day, Lafrenière is the key to the Rangers this year and it will be exciting to see him become a franchise player for the Rangers in the years to come.
Featured image at the top of the article a screenshot courtesy of NBCSN
