Things are heating up for seven New York Rangers prospects playing in the NCAA this season, with six playing regular-season games this past week and another who appeared in an exhibition contest.
Peeking ahead to this coming week, things really heat up when one of the Rangers top prospects, forward Malcolm Spence and No. 2-ranked Michigan travel to Denver to face-off against the defending National Champions and defenseman Ben MacBeath, who’s part of New York’s 2026 draft class. Michigan and Denver haven’t met in the regular season since 1981, but square off twice this coming weekend.
However, before we get there, let’s look back on what the Rangers prospects did in college hockey last week.
Rangers tools
Rangers NCAA prospects easing into 2026-27 season
Malcom Spence, Michigan
Spence earned both a primary and secondary assist, when No. 2 Michigan routed Alaska Anchorage 10-1 in non-conference play Friday. The only blemish on his night was a taunting misconduct after assisting on Michigan’s 10th goal.
The 2025 second-round draft pick by the Rangers got off to a fast start, recording a primary assist on Michigan’s first goal just 23 seconds into the game when he set up Cole McKinney. He finished the night with two assists, one shot, a plus-3 rating, and the misconduct penalty.
Spence recorded a goal and an assist in Michigan’s 7-2 win over Alaska Anchorage to complete the weekend sweep Saturday. He picked up his first point by earning a primary assist on Michigan’s third goal of the first period, what proved to be the game winner.
He found McKinney in the slot from below the goal line for a power-play goal at 18:45, giving Michigan a 3-1 lead. In the second period, Spence scored Michigan’s fourth goal on a one-timer from the top of the slot. It was his second goal of the season and fifth point overall.
It gets serious for Spence and Michigan next weekend when they play two games against top-ranked Denver and another Rangers prospect, defenseman Ben MacBeath.
Charlie Morrison UConn
Charlie Morrison made his NCAA debut in the Ice Breaker Tournament on Friday, when his No. 14 UConn Huskies took on No. 17-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions.
In the second period with the score tied 1-1, Morrison earned a secondary assist on UConn’s go-ahead goal when he fed Alexandre Blais who in turn got the puck to Joey Muldowney for the goal at 15:35.
That proved to be the game winner in a 3-1 UConn victory to open the tournament.
The freshman defenseman looked comfortable on UConn’s second defensive pair. He finished the game plus-2, recorded two shots on goal, and took an elbowing minor penalty.
UConn lost the Ice Breaker tournament Final 5-2 to unranked Bowling Green. Morrison was credited with one shot and was plus-1.
EJ Emery, North Dakota
EJ Emery was held without a point when fourth-ranked North Dakota had a tough time with unranked Bemidji State en-route to a 3-2 win in non-conference play Friday. Emery got the starting nod as top-pair right defenseman and was credited with just one shot on goal and finished plus-1.
On Saturday, Emery again was pointless with just one shot as North Dakota held off Bemidji State 4-3 for the weekend sweep. It was nice to see Emery working on the top defensive pair, but he needs to generate more offense if he is going to remain in that spot.
This could be a repeat of last season when Emery started out on the top pair but didn’t respond with enough offensive production to hold it throughout the year.
Sean Barnhill, Michigan State
Friday night, Sean Barnhill didn’t land on the score sheet though the sophomore defenseman recorded five shots on goal as his third-ranked Michigan State Spartans had little trouble with Northern Michigan earning a 6-2 non-conference win. Last year it might have taken Barnhill close to 10 games to record five shots so call this a nice improvement, but he must keep the pace up.
Barnhill was again pointless Sunday when Michigan State defeated Northern Michigan 5-1 for the weekend sweep. The Rangers third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft was credited with three shots on goal, finished minus-1, and took one minor penalty.
It’s clear the coaches trust him since he had 19:56 of ice time which was second most among the Michigan State defensemen. Even without the points, this was a step in the right direction for Barnhill.
Raoul Boilard, Lake Superior State
Thursday night, Raoul Boilard made his NCAA debut when Lake Superior State opened non-conference play with a 7-4 loss to Lindenwood. Boilard centered the top line, recorded a secondary assist on Lake Superior’s fourth goal, and impressively won 15 of 19 face-offs. His play was decent, but his team let a 4-0 lead disappear while giving up seven unanswered goals.
Boilard then earned a primary assist Friday, when the Lakers defeated Lindenwood 4-3 win to earn a split of the weekend series. Boilard’s assist came on Lake Superior’s second goal, part of a 3-0 lead they took and held on to for the win.
Ty Henricks, Western Michigan
Ty Henricks opened his junior season with a secondary assist, when third-ranked Western Michigan smoked Ferris State 6-0 in non-conference play. Henricks was credited with four shots on goal as he started the season on the third third line after playing on the first line for most of last season.
Friday night saw the second game of this matchup and Henricks was held scoreless. He had three shots on goal and finished plus-1. Someone needs to light a fire under Henricks if he wants to earn himself an NHL Entry contract.
Ben MacBeath, Denver
MacBeath and top-ranked Denver only had one game last week, an exhibition against the USNTDP Under-18 team. MacBeath had a quiet game and Denver had no problem earning a 7-1 win over the U-18 squad.
Jess Rubenstein is a longtime New York Rangers prospect analyst, who’s covered their future talent since 2004. A graduate … More about Jess Rubenstein
Add Forever Blueshirts as a Preferred Source on Google.