Previewing the Rangers Prospects in the NCAA College Hockey Playoffs
As the NCAA Frozen Four kicks off, four Rangers prospects hit the ice, aiming for a championship and a chance to impress on the big stage.
With the the Frozen Four set to kick off today, the New York Rangers will be well represented as they have four prospects competing in the NCAA's championship tournament: Brody Lamb of the University of Minnesota, Ty Hendricks of Western Michigan University, and Drew Fortescue and Gabe Perreault, both of Boston College.
Brody Lamb, University of Minnesota
A junior forward the Rangers drafted in the fourth round of the 2021 NHL Draft, Brody Lamb is coming off a strong season with 16 goals, 9 assists for a total of 25 points. Earlier in the season, Lamb had a unique hat-trick consisting of three power play goals which contributed a total of eight he had on the season. Additionally, he also had two game-winning goals for the Golden Gophers, who went 25-10-4 on the season. Here are some of his highlights from a two goal game of his against Bemidji State.
Minnesota will be heading into the tournament as the 2 seed and will be taking on UMass-Amherst as the 3 seed in the Fargo Regional Division. Lamb will bring valuable experience to Minnesota’s middle-six in his third full season with the team. Minnesota made it as far as the championship game in his freshman year before falling to Quinnipiac in overtime. Last season, they lost 6-3 to Boston University in the second round of the tournament. Lamb, who could go pro as early as this season in a similar path as Noah Laba, will look to help the Gophers win their first National Title since current Wolf Pack Head Coach Grant Potulny was captain of the team that won back-to-back championships in 2002 and 2003.
Ty Hendricks, Western Michigan University
This will be freshman Ty Hendricks (6th round, 2023) first playoff experience in the NCAA, as he spent the last two seasons in the USHL split between the Fargo Force and Muskegon Lumberjacks. In 37 games this season, Hendricks registered 7 goals and 5 assists for a total of 12 points, which isn’t bad at all for a freshman. Included in that was the first goal of the game when they took on fellow Rangers prospect E.J. Emery’s University of North Dakota in what went on to be a 5-1 win back in January.
WMU is coming in as the 1 seed in the same division as Brody Lamb’s Gophers, slated to take on Minnesota State in the first round. With a record of 30-7-1 this season, they will certainly be the favorites. Hendricks has mainly been in a fourth line role for the Broncos but will gain valuable experience in this tournament to cap off a successful freshman season.
Gabe Perreault & Drew Fortescue, Boston College
Last, but certainly not least, the Rangers have two prospects—including their highly coveted 1st round draft pick in 2023, Gabe Perreault—leading the charge for the Boston College Eagles, who are the 1 seed taking on the Bentley Falcons. Boston College is coming off a 26-7-2 season and will enter the tournament hungry for revenge after falling to Denver in last year’s championship game. Both Perreault and Drew Fortescue are not only going into the tournament playing key roles with BC, but are going into it with a second World Junior Championship under their belt, as they won their second consecutive gold medal together just two months ago.
This will likely be Gabe Perreault’s last ride with BC, as he could sign his entry level contract and join the Rangers or the Hartford Wolf Pack as soon as his college hockey season comes to an end. Surely he will hope that jump to the pros immediately follows a championship, but for now his focus will undoubtedly be on the tournament at hand. Perreault has registered a total of 60 points in 36 games this season, spread across 19 goals and 41 assists. That’s 13 points more than he had throughout his impressive freshman year in one fewer game played. He has been a staple on the team’s top line alongside Washington Capitals first round draft pick Ryan Leonard with center James Hagens, who is projected to be a top-5 pick in this year’s draft class. All eyes will certainly be on that trio to carry them back to the Frozen Four Championship.
As for Drew Fortescue, he may get less of the attention with how exciting of a player Perreault is, but he will without question be an essential part of BC’s run. Fortescue has been a consistent part of the Eagles' top defense pairing, alongside the team’s captain Eamon Powell. A Pearl River, N.Y., native the Rangers drafted in the third round of the 2023 draft, Fortescue may have had two fewer points this year than he did his freshman year (10 as a freshmen, eight as a sophomore), but he found the back of the net more, contributing four goals and four assists this year, whereas all 10 of his points last year were assists.
The NCAA Frozen Four D1 Championship tournament kicks off today at 2pm ET with Ohio State vs. Boston University. The tournament is bring broadcast on the ESPN family of networks and on ESPN+. You can view the entire tournament schedule here.
