The New York Rangers need some of their young players to emerge and become key parts of their NHL team.
Liam Greentree, Cole Beaudoin and Alberts Smits are a few of the youngsters who could make appearances for the team this season. In an ideal world, they would become regulars to help the team fill the roster with some affordable contracts.
Down the line, they could even become teammates with Nathan Aspinall , who had a season for the ages in his final year of eligibility in the OHL. Playing for the Flint Firebirds, the towering 6-foot-7 forward dominated on the ice.
He recorded 94 points, which was second in the OHL, scoring 33 goals and handing out 61 assists. It was a major jump in production, doubling the number of points he provided the season before.
That production didn't stop in the postseason, where he added 17 more points in just eight games, scoring 10 goals with seven assists. As a result of the dynamic scoring season, it should come as no surprise that Aspinall has shot up the organization's pipeline rankings .
In a series highlighting the top 10 prospects the Rangers have by Peter Baugh and Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic (subscription required), Aspinall has come in at No. 6 after being unranked last year.
The only players ahead of him are Smits, Greentree, Beaudoin, Malcolm Spence and EJ Emery. All of them were first- or second-round picks when they were selected; Aspinall didn't hear his name called until the fifth round, when he was selected No. 159 in 2024.
His development is one that fans will be paying close attention to this season. Expected to turn pro and play with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL, and he has some incredible tools to work with. However, he will have to learn how to do the little things better at the next level.
"He's going to have to make sure he's getting pucks out, finishing his checks, and being more of that role player and not getting scored on, whereas we relied on him to produce a lot of offense," Firebirds head coach Paul Flache said. "That's just going to be different."
Continuing to showcase his scoring prowess is certainly something New York wants to see. But if he is going to stick around in the NHL, he is going to have to also show that he is adept at handling the kind of assignments that bottom-six forwards are expected to do.
With Flint, he was playing approximately 25 minutes per night as the driving force behind their offense. That isn't a role he would be asked to play, at least not right away, with the Wolf Pack or Rangers, so he will have to prove he is capable of doing other things to get on the ice.
Given his work ethic and willingness to embrace challenges, smart money would be on Aspinall being able to figure it out and eventually becoming an integral part of the team's lineup.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nhl/rangers/onsi as Nathan Aspinall Debuts on NY Rangers Top Prospect List .
