NY Rangers Fans Won’t Love Latest Caleb Malhotra Draft Intel

New York Rangers fans may have to adjust their Caleb Malhotra NHL draft plans.

Jan 2, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Fans look on during the first intermission in the 2026 Winter Classic ice hockey game between the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers at loanDepot Park. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

There are a lot of needs for the New York Rangers to address this offseason, and the first crack they will have at filling them is the 2026 NHL Draft.

Lady Luck was not on their side during the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery, with the Rangers entering with the third-best odds to land the No. 1 pick. They didn’t move up; instead, they moved down the board as much as possible, landing the No. 5 selection.

While certainly not what fans were hoping for, owning a top-five pick can still be a difference-maker for a franchise. The pressure will be on the director of amateur scouting, John Lilley, and the president and general manager, Chris Drury, to hit on this selection.

Alas, one of the prospects the team would assuredly love to bring aboard, Caleb Malhotra, does not sound like he is going to be available when New York goes on the clock with the fifth pick. The 17-year-old is as fast-rising as any prospect in this year’s draft class, with a scout believing his floor is a top-three selection.

What are the odds of Caleb Malhotra being availabe for Rangers?

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

“I would say Malhotra is not dropping past Vancouver (at No. 3),” said one scout, via Vincent Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic (subscription required). That scout also noted that his father, Manny Malhotra, a former first-round pick of the Rangers, is a coach for the Abbotsford Canucks, Vancouver’s AHL affiliate.

It is easy to see why the younger Malhotra is rising rapidly. He was already viewed as a top prospect in North America heading into the 2025-26 season despite some scouts not getting to watch him play a ton.

Malhotra ended up being ranked No. 6 amongst North American prospects. Of course, that was before he took his game to another level during the OHL playoffs, playing for the Brantford Bulldogs.

He led his team to Game 7 of the conference finals, recording an eye-popping 26 points through 15 postseason games. 13 goals and 13 assists were recorded, with Malhotra showing the kind of skills every team would love to see from their No. 1 center.

“If you want a centerman, Caleb is your guy,” said NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr. He also made a player comparison of Malhotra to Patrice Bergeron for his incredible character and makeup, and ability to process the game at a high level.

New York hasn’t selected a center in the first round of the NHL draft since 2017, when they selected two: Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil.

Adding someone as talented as Malhotra to the pipeline in the middle would be a major win for the franchise, but with about six weeks to go until the draft, the odds of the teen being on the board when the Rangers come on the clock are getting longer and longer.