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Rangers sign draft picks Dylan McIlrath and Ryan Bourque

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New York took care of some internal paperwork to help officially set their future in motion today signing a pair of recent first round picks. 2009 first round pick forward Ryan Bourque and 2010 first rounder defenseman Dylan McIlrath both signed their first-year entry-level contracts with the team today.

Bourque you may recall from the Team USA World Junior Championships the last two years. Bourque helped lead the USA to gold in 2010 and is currently playing in the QMJHL with the Quebec Ramparts. This season with the Remparts, Bourque has 26 goals and 31 assists in 47 games played. The Rangers are hoping he can slot in and be a more successful pro player than his brother Chris who left North America to play in the KHL this season. If Ryan can be even half the pro his father Raymond was, he’ll be an outstanding player for years to come with the Rangers.

McIlrath is a bruising and physical defenseman who plays with an edge and a guy the Rangers foresee as a future bruiser. While playing for the Moose Jaw Warriors this year, McIlrath has five goals and 18 assists as well as 141 penalty minutes through 59 games in the WHL. Being physical and unafraid to drop the gloves when need be makes him a potentially scary player to face off with if he makes the NHL. At 6'5" 215 pounds and just weeks shy of turning 19 years-old, the Rangers will give him time to develop further.

The Rangers hope that McIlrath can develop into a shutdown defenseman otherwise people will look back on this draft as the one the Rangers passed on Cam Fowler to pick a guy that wasn’t as effective.