NY Rangers Select High-Upside Defenseman With 64th Overall Pick

The New York Rangers continued to bolster their blue line with the 64th overall pick

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

The New York Rangers were very busy on Friday night in the first round, and that carried over to Saturday on the second day of the draft. 

Coming into the draft, the Rangers were a team that was hoping to improve not only their team, but their prospect pool as well. In the first round, the team was able to accomplish both of those things. 

Just prior to making their selection in the first round, New York pulled off a blockbuster deal with the Las Vegas Golden Knights for forward Pavel Dovofeyev. The 25-year-old is a really talented scorer and fills a massive need for the Rangers in that area. 

Furthermore, the team was able to lock up the talented winger to a long-term deal quickly, and he is going to be a key piece for the team for years to come. Following the big trade, the team then selected defenseman Alberts Smits with the fifth overall pick. 

While New York did come into the night with the 26th overall pick as well, that was the selection sent to the Golden Knights in the Dorofeyev deal. However, on Saturday, the team did have plenty of selections to start the day. 

Rangers Select Benjamin MacBeath

Nov 16, 2025; New York, New York, USA; General view of a flag being waved by New York Rangers staff during the second period against the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden. / John Jones-Imagn Images

With the 64th overall pick, New York went with a defenseman once again, which may have been a bit of a surprise, but there is a lot to like about MacBeath’s game. The talented young defenseman can do it all on the ice and projects as a second-pair defenseman with the potential to be a first-pair player down the road. 

The Rangers taking two left-handed defensemen with their first two picks is a surprise, but they are a team that is in need of adding talent at the position, and when looking at the future of the left side of the blue line, it will be bright. 

While Smits might be able to come in and help right away, MacBeath will be a player that they will be at least a couple of years away from. However, when projecting out what the team might look like in a few years, the blue line on the left side could be Smits as a first-pair player, with MacBeath right behind him. It was a bit surprising to see him still on the board at 64, and the Rangers should be very happy with the value they got with this pick.