Rangers' Ryan Gropp: Heating up for AHL Hartford

Gropp scored twice in AHL Hartford's 4-3 overtime loss to Toronto on Saturday.

Gropp has now scored in three of his last four games after scoring just once in his first 17 contests this season. This nice run aside, there is currently no reason to believe that Gropp, who is still just 21 years old, will turn into an impact player at the NHL level. It's fair to wonder at this point if Gropp's strong play over the past two seasons with WHL Seattle was simply the result of playing alongside one of the top prospects in the entire league in the Islanders' Mathew Barzal.