Potential NY Rangers Draft Target Would Love Playing in New York

Which player in the NHL Draft would love to play for the New York Rangers?

Oct 23, 2025; New York, New York, USA; View out the outside of Madison Square Garden prior to the game between the San Jose Sharks and the New York Rangers. / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

With the NHL Draft quickly approaching for the New York Rangers, the team will be preparing for a very important first round. 

Coming off a very disappointing season, the Rangers will be hoping to make some significant improvements to their team this summer. New York obviously has numerous needs after having the worst record in the Eastern Conference. 

Arguably, the top need for the team is going to be in their top six. Adding some help in the scoring department is important, and that was a main area of struggle for the Rangers. However, that is going to be a challenging task to accomplish. Free agency is unfortunately lacking options like that, with Alex Tuch likely to be the best player available to fill that need. However, at 30 years old, a long-term deal with him might not make sense for the timeline of New York. 

While free agency will be important for the team, so too will the NHL Draft, with the fifth overall pick, they will have a number of options who could help provide a jolt of talent to their prospect pool. 

Peter Baugh of The Athletic (subscription required) recently spoke with potential Rangers draft target Chase Reid. The talented young defenseman who could be on the board when New York is on the clock talked highly about potentially joining the team. 

“Obviously, playing in New York, you have good fans out there, and it’s a fun city to be in, obviously,” he said. “I think all around, I’d love to live there and play there.”

Reid Could Be a Strong Option

General view of a flag being waved by New York Rangers / John Jones-Imagn Images

With a lot of uncertainty still about how the draft is going to shake out, the Rangers meeting with all of the options is certainly wise. Reid is a player who has been mocked as high as the second overall pick by the San Jose Sharks, and some have him as the best defenseman in the class. 

Depending on how things go, there is certainly a scenario that he falls to New York, and that would likely mean the Sharks either took one of the top three forwards or perhaps traded the pick. While Reid, being a right-handed defenseman, isn’t an ideal fit for the Rangers, he is the caliber of player that they shouldn’t pass on if he is on the board. 

Overall, it is good to see that Reid likes the thought of playing in New York. The pressure of a big market can get to athletes sometimes, but Reid appears to be alright with expectations being high.