00:00The Rangers have officially made the trade fans have been bracing for.
00:04They've traded Artemi Panarin to the Kings for 20-year-old right winger
00:07Liam Greentree in two draft picks.
00:10Greentree was the 26th overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft
00:14and has played for the Windsor Spitfire of the Ontario Hockey League since 2022,
00:18piling up 299 points in that time.
00:22Who better to talk to to get more information about the top prospect
00:24than the head coach of the Spitfire, Greg Walters.
00:27Coach, thanks for coming on.
00:30Yeah, thanks for having me, guys.
00:32So, Coach, I'll start easy here.
00:34What kind of player are the Rangers getting in Liam?
00:38Great player.
00:40Big, physical, strong.
00:43Can score goals.
00:45He's getting better every day.
00:46He works on his craft every day.
00:49And, you know, the improvements that we've seen over the last two years
00:56have been huge.
00:57Huge, and he continues to work on his 200-foot game.
01:01But there's probably not a better shooter in the Ontario Hockey League
01:05than Liam Greentree, and we're definitely lucky to have him.
01:09How about off the ice, Coach?
01:10What kind of person are the Rangers getting?
01:13Yeah, great kid.
01:14Obviously, he's our captain.
01:15He was named captain at 17 here.
01:17So, that says a lot about his character.
01:20And he's great with the young guys.
01:24He brings them in.
01:26He welcomes everybody and goes about his business.
01:31So, like I said, on and off the ice, the Rangers are getting a great player.
01:37What do you believe his ceiling is?
01:40Yeah, like I said, he's a big kid.
01:43He's powerful.
01:44He's got an extremely high skill set.
01:48And, like I said, he continues to work, you know, on the things away from the puck.
01:54And the sky's the limit for him, to be honest.
01:57If you had to compare him to a player in the NHL, who would you compare him to?
02:01Well, that's a tough one.
02:05Yeah, that's a tough one.
02:07I know the Rangers fans and, obviously, Will Cooley played here in Windsor as well.
02:15So, I know there's a connection there with Liam and Will.
02:19But very similar, to be honest.
02:23Both big guys, physical, that can score goals.
02:29When do you think Rangers fans can expect him to be making that rookie lap around Madison Square Garden Ice?
02:35Yeah, obviously, you know, he's with us for the rest of the year here.
02:39And we've got a good thing going.
02:41And hopefully, he leads us to a championship here.
02:45And, you know, that's all up to him.
02:48And, obviously, New York, he'll get himself in great shape over the summer and be ready to go for next year's training camp.
02:55I know he was on track to be playing in L.A., but how about the lights of New York?
03:00They're bright.
03:01It's a big stage.
03:01How do you believe Liam will handle the big stage of New York?
03:04Yeah, he's a confident kid.
03:08He's, you know, obviously, there's probably, you know, L.A. drafted him.
03:13So, there's probably some sadness.
03:15But, obviously, going to an unbelievable organization like the New York Rangers, he's excited.
03:22And it's a fresh start for him.
03:24And he'll be ready to go for you guys.
03:26Our Tommy Panarian is obviously a player that Rangers fans hate to be losing.
03:32But how do you believe Liam will also handle that pressure of being in a trade of this magnitude?
03:38Yeah, for sure.
03:39It's tough.
03:39He's, like you said, he just turned 20.
03:42He's a young kid.
03:43And I do know that he's going to put the work in.
03:47He loves the game.
03:49He works at his craft every day.
03:52And he's going to do everything he can to be an impact guy there with New York.
03:59Coach Walters, thank you so much for joining us.
04:01Good luck the rest of the season.
04:02Thanks for letting us get to know Liam Greentree a little bit.
04:06Yeah, great.
04:07Thanks for having me, guys.
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