Not to be a drag, or throw a cloud over tonight's game, but as you watch tonight, take a look at Christian Backman's play - good or bad, who knows what will happen (sincerely hopefully good) - and just think of this:
Notable New York Ranger Fourth Round Draft Picks:
*Pat Conacher '79 - Played just 21 games for us, but had a solid 521 game NHL career that featured a Finals visit with Gretzky and the Kings.
*John Vanbiesbrouck '81 - Vezina Award winner and First Team All Star 85-86, 449 games as a Ranger over 10 years of action.
*Paul Broten '84 - 194 games as a dependable defensive forward.
*Mark Janssens '86 - 157 of his 711 NHL games were as a Ranger.
*Tony Amonte '88 - All Rookie Team 91-92, 183 points in 234 games as a Blueshirt and was traded for Brian Noonan and Stephane Matteau.
*Marc Savard '95 - Just 98 games as a Ranger but 271 points over his last three seasons.
*Ryan Callahan '04 - Kid has been one of the hardest workers on the ice since his debut last season, and he scored the game-winner in Game 1.
Interesting, huh? I was flipping through the media guide and I thought I would point out the success the Rangers have had in the past with fourth round picks (what they dealt for the soft Swede). As I said, hopefully he will be good tonight, and over the next season will develop into the puck moving maven that Sather and company predicts; there is certainly room for improvement.
2 comments:
That's 7 4th round draft picks out of how many? 40? 50? That's not exactly a high success rate, and Backman is definitely better than most 4th rounders, 70+% of whom don't even make it to the NHL (see http://www.hockeyanalysis.com/?p=316).
I should have fleshed out my argument further. Aside from the good picks in the 80s, recent seasons appear to have had success. Washington had our pick last year, but the previous four seasons were all good - David Kveton '06 remains a prospect, Adam Graves raves about Tom Pyatt '05, Cally was '04 and Corey Potter '03 had a terrific season in Hartford. With that kind of recent track record, why would you wnat to blow your pick on a defensive liability who hurts your team as much as he helps it with the occasional offensive contribution?
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