[Stay Boy Steven] NYR prospect Hugo Ollas (R7, 2020) signs his ELC with the Rangers! He is the 6th player from his draft class to sign with the team, joining Alexis Lafrenière (R1), Braden Schneider (R1), Will Cuylle (R2), Dylan Garand (R4), Brett Berard (R5) and Matt Rempe (R6)
#NYR prospect Hugo Ollas (R7, 2020) signs his ELC with the Rangers!
He is the 6th player from his draft class to sign with the team, joining Alexis Lafrenière (R1), Braden Schneider (R1), Will Cuylle (R2), Dylan Garand (R4), Brett Berard (R5) and Matt Rempe (R6) https://t.co/RiSgkNIjOz
— Stat Boy Steven 🇳🇱 🇿🇦 (@StatBoy_Steven) March 15, 2024
by lionson76
9 Comments
That makes 7 out of the 9 picks that year. Stat Boy can’t count lol.
For a moment 5th round pick Evan Vierling was one of our top C prospects, until some off-ice issues got in the way (I wanna say mental health, but don’t remember exactly). The Rangers didn’t sign him and now he’s in the Penguins system.
Still, what a draft year.
quick note on hugo.. 6’8′ 240 lbs.. thats a freak of a goalie
His stats the past two years:
22-23 Merrimack College – 21 games, 2.32 GAA .915 SV%
23-24 Merrimack College – 21 games, 2.84 GAA .908 SV%
Hugo Ollas is an elite goalie name
That’s the absolutely giant goalie kid, right?
It’s sorta hilarious that Gorton and company finally had a good draft in their last draft , when they had already blew up some big picks in recent drafts
6’8 240 with a Huge Ol Ass, HUGO OLLAS
Rangers new draft policy: must be > 6.5 feet
So as rare Merrimack/NYR fan, I’ve seen a lot of Ollas over the last 3 years. Yes, he really is that big, and yes he takes up a lot of the net. He split time for most of 3 years at Merrimack in a formidable goalie tandem. It’s not that he couldn’t win the starter job (he did play more in stretches than Borgiel, Merrimack’s other G), it’s just that the coach saw having 2 great goalies as a strength & allowed them both to rest. Ollas had a huge shutout last year in the Hockey East playoffs to send Merrimack to TD Garden (for the HE Semi) for the first time in 12 years, and he was one of their most valuable players all of last year. He helped lead Merrimack to their first NCAA tournament berth in that same span.
While his probable biggest weakness is speed in terms of positioning, his size can compensate for it, and help him stay in position. I’d imagine he’s going to work a lot with Benoit Allaire and it should be interesting to see how he adapts.
But personally I’m really happy to see him get signed. I’m biased as a Merrimack guy, but I think he has the highest upside of any of our G prospects not named Garand. Apparently he’s reporting to the Wolfpack so I’d imagine he gets an occasional start there on an ATO before his ELC kicks in next year. We also still have Lindbom under contract for this year and a fellow tall G prospect in Talyn Boyko playing in the ECHL.