Top Prospect Certainly Won't Be Available for NY Rangers at Five Following Trade

Which prospect likely won't be available for the New York Rangers when they are on the clock at number five?

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 are getting set for an important couple of days when the NHL Draft kicks off. However, the league has been buzzing of late with some big trades occurring. 

As the Rangers prepare for the NHL Draft, there has been a ton of player movement in the last couple of days leading up to the draft. Due to the rise in the salary cap, there was an expectation that there could be a lot of deals. 

New York was a team that figured to be trying to make some moves, but they have seen some of their potential fits come off the board. Now, while moves have been happening around them, some of them have had an impact on what the draft might look like for New York. 

With the draft just days away and a new team jumping into the top five and another team making one of the big moves, things could look different ahead of the Rangers. One player who now certainly won’t be available for them at five is the talented Ivar Stenberg. 

Ivar Certainly Won’t Be an Option

Sweden forward Ivar Stenberg / Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

Due to the San Jose Sharks’ trade with the Ottawa Senators, their plan for the second overall pick is likely clear. The Sharks sent the talented winger William Eklund to the Senators for a package surrounding the ninth overall pick. 

There was a lot of chatter about Eklund coming into the offseason with San Jose having a plethora of talent at forward. The Sharks should be very pleased with the return that they received for him and now have two picks in the top 10 of the NHL Draft. This is a team that is getting close, and they have set themselves up really nicely. 

Due to the team moving Eklund, it should result in them taking Ivar Stenberg with the second overall pick. There have been a lot of discussions about what the plan would be for San Jose at number two, but that has now become clearer. 

For the Rangers, this trade hurts in a couple of ways. Eklund was figured to be a good target for New York as a young winger, and Stenberg was a player that they would have hoped potentially could fall to them. 

While the Rangers can’t be faulted for not giving up a top 10 pick for Eklund, the offseason has seen some good targets for the team already move. Now, New York must be focused on trying to move some of their own talented players, like Vincent Trocheck and Braden Schneider, to maximize returns.