NY Rangers Need More Success Than Last Two Tries If They Land a Top 2 Pick

If the New York Rangers are able to get a Top 2 pick in the NHL Draft Lottery, the team needs to get a star.

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 facing a very important offseason for the franchise this summer, and that will be getting started on Tuesday night with the NHL Draft Lottery. 

Following one of the worst campaigns for the team in a while, the Rangers ended up finishing with the worst record in the Eastern Conference. Despite the struggles, the team is optimistic that they can turn things around quickly and that this will be a retool and not a rebuild. 

The team has done a strong job of putting themselves in a position to succeed in the summer with a good amount of cap space. However, due to their struggles this year, they have the third-highest odds for the first overall pick. Generally, getting the top pick means getting a star player for years to come. Unfortunately for New York, they haven’t had that type of luck when it comes to drafting high. 

Rangers Need More Success With Top Pick

New York Rangers left wing Alexis Lafreniere / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

The last two times that New York had a pick in the top three were in back-to-back years. Starting in 2019, the team landed the second overall pick and drafted forward Kaapo Kakko. The following year, the team won the NHL Draft Lottery and selected Alexis Lafrenière. 

As expected with both players being high picks, the expectation was for both of them to be stars for the Rangers. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case with either of them, and Kakko is no longer on the team. 

Of the two, Kakko has undoubtedly been more of a disappointment after being taken second overall. With him not being on the team, that is the first indication that he hasn’t panned out, but his career-high in points so far is just 44, which he set last season between a half-season with the Rangers and half with the Seattle Kraken. 

Furthermore, while Kakko didn’t live up to being the second overall talent, Lafrenière has been more serviceable for the team and has shown more abilities as an offensive player. With a few 50-point campaigns, he has been more productive, but still not a star like a team would expect from a first overall pick. 

With New York knowing that they are going to be selecting in the top five no matter what, the team has to be hoping that they will be landing an impact player. The Rangers have made some recent changes to their developmental team, and they will be hoping that these changes can help improve the young talent for the squad.