NY Rangers' Final NHL Draft Lottery Odds Set After Disappointing Season

What percent chance does the New York Rangers have at the first pick in the NHL Lottery?

Jun 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; The draft board is seen following the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft at Peacock Theater. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

With the season coming to an end for the New York Rangers, the team will now be focused on the upcoming offseason and trying to get this team back to being a contender. 

The 2025-26 campaign was clearly a failure for the team overall, with them having one of the worst records in the league. Furthermore, with some bad teams out in the Western Conference, it was the Rangers who finished with the fewest points in the Eastern Conference. 

Even though the overall season was a struggle, there were some reasons down the stretch to be a bit optimistic about what the future could hold. Injuries undoubtedly played a significant part in the team not performing well, but they did see some young talent start to emerge. 

As the head of the summer, they will be able to build around a couple of foundational pieces on the roster, and likely will continue to try to develop their young talent. Due to their poor record, they are also going to have the ability to land an impact player early in the NHL Draft. 

It came down to the last day of the regular season, but the Rangers now know that they will have the third-highest odds to have the first pick following a Calgary Flames victory on Thursday night. 

Rangers Have Great Odds

NY Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury / Peter Carr/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While there is no guarantee that New York will get the first pick in the NHL draft, the higher odds of securing the pick are better. With the Flames winning on Thursday, it locked New York in with the third-highest odds to get the top pick at 11.5%. For Calgary, that win moved them to fourth with a 9.5% chance. 

Furthermore, while it is good that the team will have a better chance of landing the first pick, finishing in third also guarantees that they won’t be drafting lower than fifth. That is certainly significant to help ensure them as one of the top prospects coming up. 

No matter where New York ends up drafting, they will likely get an impact prospect regardless. Coupled with the team having a later pick in the first round and a lot of cap space, the team could turn things around quickly. 

This is going to be a pivotal summer for the team, and there is reason to believe that they will be able to turn things around quickly. However, securing the first pick would certainly help speed that along.