Editor’s note: For the second consecutive year, The Athletic’s Vincent Z. Mercogliano and Peter Baugh are doing a series ranking the New York Rangers’ top 10 prospects. The order is based on detailed analysis of the organizational pipeline, along with conversations with evaluators, coaches and many of the players. The aim is to balance where each prospect is on his development path while weighing projected upside over time.Only prospects who maintain rookie eligibility and are yet to reach their second contract are included, bumping previously ranked players such as Noah Laba, Scott Morrow and last year’s No. 1, Gabe Perreault, out of consideration.Each of the top 10 will be profiled in a series of stories that began Aug. 24 and concludes Friday.No. 10: Adam SýkoraNo. 9: Drew FortescueNo. 8: Tomáš ChrenkoNo. 7: Ben MacBeathNo. 6: Nathan AspinallNo. 5: EJ EmeryThis spring, in the immediate aftermath of his freshman year at the University of Michigan, Malcolm Spence limited his time skating. His focus shifted to the gym, where he is working on bulking up heading into his second season.The early returns for Spence, the No. 43 pick to the Rangers in the 2025 NHL Draft and the organization’s No. 4 prospect in our ranking, appear promising. According to Wolverines coach Brandon Naurato, the 19-year-old has put on eight pounds of muscle this summer alone.“He’s learned he can skate. Now (it’s about), ‘How do I build that engine, build that motor, by changing my body through nutrition and off-ice workouts?’” Naurato said. “I think he’s going to come back a beast.”After slipping out of the first round of the draft in June 2025, Spence put together a solid freshman season at Michigan and looks like someone whose skill and ability to make plays in tight areas of the ice could translate to the highest level. A left-shot winger, he registered 10 goals and 25 points in 40 games as the Wolverines reached the Frozen Four before ultimately losing to the University of Denver in a national semifinal.“I think he’ll be a top-six player this year at Michigan and be a really big contributor,” said a Western Conference scout, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer a candid evaluation. “I think he’s got a little bit of grit in him and a little bit of jam, but he can skate. He can shoot it, and there’s enough touch with the puck that he’s not going to beat it up. He might not be a driver on a line, but he’ll be a really good complementary player on a line.”Can Gabe Perreault get to Nikita Kucherov’s level?Scott Wheeler, Corey Pronman and moreDuring his inaugural collegiate campaign, Spence showed an ability to fit in with different linemates — whether it was senior captain T.J. Hughes, who is now with the Colorado Avalanche, or Montreal Canadiens prospect Michael Hage, a 2024 first-round pick.“What he does away from the puck — picks and setting up space for other guys, getting to the hard areas and disrupting — that’s why skill guys like playing with him,” Naurato said of Spence. “It’s not just on-the-puck stuff. It’s away-from-the-puck stuff, too. He’s grown and developed in that area a ton.”Spence played in top- and bottom-six roles for Michigan as a freshman, and Naurato used him on both the left and right wing. As for his NHL potential, the Western Conference scout said, “If he can play with a prospect like Michael Hage, he’s going to be just fine playing with a top-six player in the NHL.” The evaluator described him as a middle-six prospect with second-line upside.“When he gets to the Rangers — without projecting too much — he can play on the fourth line early,” Naurato said. “But I feel like he’s the guy who can play with the two skill guys down the road that make space for them and has skill to make plays with them in the offensive zone.”“He’s one of those big power forwards you’ve gotta watch out for,” added San Jose Sharks forward Michael Misa, one of Spence’s youth teammates and friends.Spence, who is listed at 6-foot-2, said he built confidence as the 2025-26 season went on and learned to stick with “what makes me a great player.”“When I’m playing my best and playing both sides of the puck, usually (I’m) not worrying about results,” he said. “It’s just kind of sticking to my game throughout all three periods.”Spence said he believes his experience in high-pressure NCAA games will help him going forward, and indeed Michigan’s double-overtime loss in the 2026 Frozen Four semifinal has left him motivated. He made his presence felt in that game against Denver: Naurato said Spence got more effective as the night went on, including a drive to the net with the puck in the third period. The sequence ended with Spence colliding with the goalie after getting shoved by a defender. It didn’t lead to a goal, but Naruto viewed it as an example of the winger’s ability to play a hard-nosed style.The Michigan coach sees Spence as someone who can be the worker on a line while also bringing the skill to the table that made him a point-per-game player as an 18-year-old in the OHL.“Malcolm excels in the playoff-type hockey, but he’s got that fast twitch where he has that breakaway speed to get in on a breakaway and get away from people,” said the coach, adding that Spence also possesses the ability to get under opponents’ skin.“I’m a big fan,” added Dan Marr, the director of NHL Central Scouting. “This is a guy that understands the game, and he knows the game. He’s one of these guys who, at playoff time, he’ll step up and get the goal that you need and make things happen there.”The New York Rangers are in limboVincent Z. Mercogliano and moreSpeaking last month at the Rangers’ prospect development camp, Spence didn’t comment on his potential professional timeline. If he has a dominant sophomore season, he could be ready to turn professional in the spring, or he could benefit from a third NCAA season. EJ Emery, the Rangers’ 2024 first-round pick and our No. 5 prospect, is heading into his junior year at North Dakota, and Drew Fortescue, our No. 9 prospect, spent three years at Boston College.Though the Rangers organization still lacks prospect depth at center, Spence is part of a promising collection of wings that includes Gabe Perreault, already in the NHL, and Liam Greentree and Nathan Aspinall. The fact that New York nabbed Spence in a year it lacked a pick in the top 40 seems like a win.“For my money,” Marr said, “they got a first-rounder in Malcolm Spence.”— Vincent Z. Mercogliano contributed to this report.