NY Rangers Might Have Unfortunate Luck in 2026 NHL Draft

Why might the New York Rangers have some unfortunate luck at the NHL Draft?

May 8, 2025; Tarrytown, NY, USA; New York Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury speaks during a press conference to introduce new head coach Mike Sullivan at the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown, New York May 8, 2025. / The Journal News-Imagn Images

The New York Rangers are getting set for a big offseason, and that will start during the upcoming NHL Draft. 

Following a down year, the Rangers are coming into the offseason with some high expectations of being able to make some significant improvements, but it's a bit of a tough avenue in order to do so. 

New York does have some very appealing things, like a lot of cap space to attack free agency. However, with some of the expected big names to be available this summer re-signing with their teams, the class now lacks scoring and star power. 

One of the top needs for the Rangers is to improve in the scoring department this summer. However, aside from Alex Tuch, options are going to be fairly limited for the group. 

This could result in New York seeking to explore the trade market, but as a team that needs some young talent, it might not be in their best interest to move younger assets to try to make a splash. 

However, with two first-round picks, the team might elect to move one of them to help the team now, while still being able to add a young talent. Unfortunately for New York, they didn’t land in the top three during the NHL Draft Lottery, and that could be something that haunts them. 

Rangers Might Have Unfortunate Luck 

Jun 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; The video board shows the 20th overall pick for the Columbus Blue Jackets is about to be announced in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft at Peacock Theater. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

New York certainly did not have the best of luck during the lottery, falling to the worst possible position that they could have. Furthermore, recent mock drafts aren’t looking too favorable that one of the top forwards is going to be available to them with the fifth pick, and that isn’t ideal. 

With a need for help up front, adding one of Gavin McKenna, Ivar Stenberg, or Caleb Malhotra would have been ideal. However, many have all three going in some combination of the top four, leaving the Rangers on the outside looking in. 

While trading up would be an option, New York can’t afford to take a risk like that, especially considering their recent history of selecting in the lottery. Even though it would have been ideal for the Rangers to be able to get one of the forwards to truly meet their organizational needs, they could add some help on the left side of the defense with a player like Carson Carels. 

Due to the need for help in the scoring department being the top need, Carels isn’t the ideal fit for that. However, with a team in need of some young talent, the best available player at fifth will help.