At The Pipeline Show, Guy Flaming has been looking at one prospect from each team for a “one to watch” feature and for the Rangers he picked 2011 fourth rounder Michael St. Croix.
Flaming writes that St. Croix has the production level to be a top prospect, but doesn’t have everyone convinced he will be.
He is slightly undersized and although his speed has improved, no one would consider St. Croix to be a speedy player. Fortunately he has skilled hands to either set up or finish plays but while that leads to junior success it’s not a guarantee that it will translate to pro hockey.
He adds that some scouts don’t see him as a top six player and he doesn’t play a style that is conducive to the bottom six.
Flaming writes that this year, St. Croix’s final year in juniors, has the potential to be a “massive one” for him.
In June Scott Cullen of TSN said of St. Croix “he is an offensive dynamo, who has improved steadily throughout his three seasons in the WHL. With a couple more seasons of development, St. Croix could be ready for a scoring role on Broadway.”
--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
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2008-09 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 2 1 1 2 0 -- -- -- -- --
2009-10 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 66 18 28 46 30 -- -- -- -- --
2010-11 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 68 27 48 75 48 4 1 0 1 9
2011-12 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 72 45 60 105 49 20 7 12 19 6
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After being called the Rangers prospect who overachieved the most this season, Michael St. Croix is ready for the next step, whatever that may be.
He the told the Rangers website“I am coming to Rangers camp in the fall to make the team, then a 19 year old season in the WHL would also be beneficial. You never know what is going to happen but I am going to come in with an open mind.”
On the year that he had with Edmonton in the WHL, he said “It was an unbelievable season. I just had to go to the net and they found me. It was great to get a lot of ice time, and with that success it was fun to play hockey.”
He added that if he goes back to Edmonton he wants to become more of a leader.
For more on St. Croix including some video, scouting reports and a recap of the season that he had, CLICK HERE.
At TSN, Scott Cullen lists the Rangers top prospects as part of his offseason game plan for the team.
Chris Kreider
Tim Erixon
Michael St. Croix
JT Miller
Dylan McIlrath
Christian Thomas
Jesper Fasth
Andrew Yogan
Marek Hrivik
Steven Fogarty.
On St. Croix, Cullen writes, “he is an offensive dynamo, who has improved steadily throughout his three seasons in the WHL. With a couple more seasons of development, St. Croix could be ready for a scoring role on Broadway.”
CLICK HERE to see a section dedicated to prospect rankings.
Michael St. Croix, the Rangers fourth round pick in the 2011 draft, finished 8th in the WHL in scoring this season with 45 goals and 60 assists along with 7 goals and 12 assists in the playoffs for the Edmonton Oil Kings.
At Hockey’s Future, Leslie Treff picks St. Croix as the Rangers prospect who overachieved this season.
For more on St. Croix including some video, scouting reports and a recap of the season that he had, CLICK HERE.
St. Croix and Edmonton won the WHL this season and played in the Memorial Cup.
Adam Rotter: With less fan fare, he was the Christian Thomas of this season and just exceeded expectations, statistically speaking, and had a great season. This is a guy to keep an eye on as he can hopefully snag a spot on Team Canada at the World Juniors next season and continue on a good development path.
At The Hockey News, Ryan Kennedy published his latest Hot List column and put the Rangers 2011 fourth round pick Michael St. Croix on the list.
Kennedy writes that St. Croix went over 40 goals this season and “the creatively gifted pivot is a plus-39 and only needs a couple more points to hit triple digits for the playoff-bound squad.”
At ESPN Insider, Corey Pronman lists five Ranger prospects that the Rangers could trade for Rick Nash.
He lists Tim Erixon, Chris Kreider, Michael St. Croix, JT Miller and Dylan McIlrath.
On Erixon, who Pronman is a big fan of, he says that Erixon projects to be a shutdown defenseman who can play against the other team’s top players.
On Kreider, Pronman writes that he is looked at as a top six goal scorer with first line potential.
On St. Croix, he quotes a scout as saying, “He’s the player this year I thought he was going to be last year.” St. Croix is a brilliant playmaking forward with great upside and could have the potential to be a top-two line scorer in the NHL.
On JT Miller, Pronman says that he is a versatile player with no noticeable weaknesses.
On McIlrath, he says that after struggling to start the season, McIlrath has “been a bone-crushing defenseman who scares the life out of opposing forwards every shift.”
In the Edmonton Journal,via Buzzing the Net, Evan Daum writes about the Edmonton Oil Kings and their star player, and Rangers fourth round pick, Michael St. Croix.
Oil Kings coach Derek Laxdel says that St. Croix is developing as a player on both ends of the ice, especially on defense, and is the engine that makes the Oill Kings go:
“He’s a player that loves the sport, he loves to have the puck, and he loves to be the centre-piece of your team. He’s exactly that for us – when Mike goes, we go.”
Maybe they found a steal with him. He is putting up nice numbers, as a lot of players in the CHL do in their third year, but the Rangers have dne pretty nice for themselves in the middle rounds lately with Ryan Callahan, Carl Hagelin, Dale Weise, Tomas Kundratek and Ryan Bourque.
After
Michael St. Croix, the Rangers fourth round pick in the 2011 draft, finished 8th in the WHL in scoring this season with 45 goals and 60 assists along with 7 goals and 12 assists in the playoffs for the Edmonton Oil Kings.
