Brody Lamb, Kalle Vaisanen, Talyn Boyko and Noah Laba might not know it, but they’ve got a tradition to uphold.
The foursome represents the New York Rangers’ “haul” of fourth-round draft picks taken since 2021. Based on team history, it would hardly be surprising if a future NHL star or two emerges from that group of players, none of whom were drafted any higher than 104th overall.
That’s because the Blueshirts, for all of their follies when it comes to higher-round selections, have been able to minimize their myriad of misses in the first and second rounds over the years by curiously unearthing some impressive gems in the fourth.
Though it’s almost certainly coincidental, the Rangers have been hitting it big in the fourth round for some time. Their finds include a pair of top-tier goaltenders, a future captain and two players who combined for over 1,600 career points.
Here’s a review of the Blueshirts’ big draft scores in the fourth round – and what their most recent choices from there have to live up to.
Ryan Callahan, 127th Overall Selection, 2004
The man who became known affectionately known as “Cally” over eight seasons in New York showed a solid scoring touch in the Ontario Hockey League before the Rangers took a chance on him in this draft, one in which their six picks in the first two rounds turned out to yield almost nothing. The only hit from that early run of selections was Brandon Dubinsky, who did become a core member of the “Black and Blueshirts” teams – joining Ryan Callahan, whose talent was sometimes overshadowed by his gritty, inspirational leadership that personified a core group that reached the 2012 Eastern Conference Final.
Callahan, who recorded 132 goals and 122 assists in 450 games with the Rangers, was named captain in 2011 at age 26. He served in the role until his unceremonious 2014 trade-deadline departure, when he was sent to the Tampa Bay Lightning for fellow right wing Martin St. Louis, who did play a crucial role in the club’s run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Callahan’s No. 24 jersey remains a frequently worn one at Madison Square Garden, and many fans still lament his departure over his pending free agency. Forced to retire after the 2018-19 season due to a degenerative back condition after six years with Tampa, he became a beloved player there as well despite just missing out on the Lightning’s first of back-to-back Stanley Cups the next season.
Igor Shesterkin, 118th Overall, 2014
A decade after drafting Callahan, the organization scored again the fourth round, selecting a player that seems certain to easily top this list by the time his career ends. The Rangers completely missed on six of their seven picks in the 2014 draft – the exception being Igor Shesterkin, the latest in the club’s litany of elite drafted-and-developed goalies.
Shesterkin’s jaw-dropping dominance of the Kontinental Hockey League from 2016-19 turned out to be anything but a fluke upon being called up to the Rangers in January 2020, having quickly proven himself too good for the American Hockey League that season as well. He won the 2022 Vezina Trophy in his third season, leading the NHL with a .935 save percentage and 2.07 goals-against average to go with a 36-13-4 record. With a career .921 save percentage and 2.44 GAA, the 28-year-old might still be ascending and is already in the conversation for the best in the league at his position.
Fiery, confident and competitive, Shesterkin is one of the pillars of the current roster and will command a significant payday with unrestricted free agency two summers away.
John Vanbiesbrouck, 72nd Overall, 1981
The 1981 draft was actually a productive one for the Rangers, who selected defenseman James Patrick in the first round and forward Jan Erixon in the second, but John Vanbiesbrouck had at least as good a career as Patrick, who was chosen ninth overall. Another fourth-round Rangers goalie heist, “The Beezer” captured the Vezina in 1985-86 with a 31-21-5 record, 3.33 GAA average, .887 save percentage (during a much more prolific offensive era) and three shutouts.
Vanbiesbrouck fashioned 16 shutouts during his 11 years on Broadway. Traded to the Vancouver Canucks after the 1992-93 season in order to allow the Rangers to protect Mike Richter in the expansion draft, the Florida Panthers made Vanbiesbrouck their first pick. That proved to be a good decision, as he backstopped their stunning run to the Stanley Cup Final three years later, recording a .932 save percentage and 2.25 GAA in those playoffs. He played 20 years for five teams and finished with 374 victories.
Tony Amonte, 68th Overall, 1988
The Rangers plucked a natural goal scorer out of Boston University with this pick in yet another draft in which they got essentially nothing from 10 of their 11 selections. Tony Amonte proved to be the one success story, delivering 68 goals and 77 assists in his first two seasons on Broadway from 1991-93.
The speedy right wing compiled 16 goals and 22 assists through 72 games for the Blueshirts in 1993-94 when he was then cemented in franchise lore, though not because of anything else he did on the ice for the Rangers. Amonte was the principal asset in the March 21, 1994 trade with the Chicago Blackhawks that brought back forwards Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan, who would play integral roles in the club’s charge to the Stanley Cup.
Amonte would go on to remind the Rangers the price they paid to win that championship over the next 14 seasons, scoring 332 more goals with 385 assists for the Blackhawks and three other teams.
Mario Marois, 62nd Overall, 1977
While Mario Marois didn’t have nearly the impactful career as the first three Rangers on this list, he certainly provided better than fourth-round value in four-plus seasons in a Blueshirt. The puck-moving defenseman became a regular by age 21, and that season totaled five goals, 26 assists and a plus-17 rating in 71 games in 1978-79 as the Rangers shocked the 116-point, top-seeded New York Islanders in the playoffs on the way to the Stanley Cup Final.
You may also like:
- Rempe, Rangers Frustrating Capitals Physically in First-Round Series
- 3 Keys to the Rangers Winning Games 3 & 4 in Washington
- 3 Most Underrated Rookies From the 2023-24 NHL Season
- Rangers Hold Off Capitals to Take Game 2
- Projected Lineups for the Capitals vs Rangers – Game 2
Marois compiled 67 points in 166 games with the Rangers before embarking on a journeyman career that took him to four other teams over 15 total seasons.
Rangers Hit it Big for Opponents in the Fourth Round, Too
The Blueshirts’ deft touch in the fourth round looks all the more impressive when you consider some other finds that, like Amonte, went on to play most of all of their careers with other teams. After showing promise with nine goals and 36 assists in 70 games during the 1998-99 season, Marc Savard (91st overall, 1995) was sent to the Calgary Flames in a disastrous draft-day trade. The center went on to a 706-point NHL career – a number that would have been even better had his time in the NHL not been cut short by concussions.
Related: Rangers Have Real Trouble Drafting in the Top 10
There’s also big defenseman Ryan Graves (110th overall, 2013), whom the Rangers gave away in a trade for minor-league defenseman Chris Bigras from the Colorado Avalanche in 2018. Graves paced the NHL at plus-40 for the Avs in 2019-20 and is a plus-93 in his four-season NHL career, with 31 goals and 82 assists in 365 career games. He signed a six-year, $27 million contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 1, 2023.
Syl Apps Jr., the son of Hall of Famer Syl Apps, presents an interesting final fourth-round footnote. Apps Jr., taken 21st overall by the Rangers when the draft in 1964 was far smaller and different, was traded to the Penguins in January 1971 and became one of that franchise’s first stars, recording 500 points in 495 games over eight seasons.
The Blueshirts received Glen Sather from Pittsburgh for Apps, their first fourth-round choice that would go on to a significant NHL stint. Sather’s executive career included the role of Rangers president and general manager from 2000-15 – during which his front office delivered fourth-round success stories Callahan, Shesterkin, Savard and Graves.
Rangers’ Next Fourth-Round Score Might Not Be Far Off
The Blueshirts haven’t hit with a fourth-rounder since Shesterkin, which might mean they’re due, or perhaps more likely, they’ve just gotten lucky in the past. The pedigree of NHL players who came from Rangers’ fourth-round selections, though, makes it difficult to ignore who they take in that round on a yearly basis.
Perhaps 2020 fourth-rounder Dylan Garand is next up, given that he’s a goalie in an organization that’s been amazingly effective at drafting and developing them. The 21-year-old went 6-0 with a 1.98 GAA and .925 save percentage to help Canada win the World Junior Championships in 2022. He followed that up with a so-so regular season with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL in 2022-23, but was 5-3 with a .935 save percentage, 1.76 GAA and two shutouts in the league playoffs.
Whoever it turns out to be, the Blueshirts’ penchant for picking prospects who turn out to be considerably more than role players in the fourth round, when much of the elite talent is supposedly gone, means it’s worth paying attention to the organization’s selections at that spot when the second day of the draft rolls around.
