Rangers Face Tough NHL Draft Decision

The 2025 NHL Entry Draft is just a few days away, and the clock is ticking for teams to make their final preparations for the event. For the New York Rangers, however, the clock is ticking much louder.

Not only do the Rangers have to put the finishing touches on their big board, but they also have to decide if they'll pick in the first round at all. By 7 p.m. ET Wednesday, the Rangers must decide if they send the No. 12 overall pick in this year's draft to the Pittsburgh Penguins, or keep it and send next year's first-round pick with no protections.

The Rangers initially traded this pick to the Vancouver Canucks as part of a package for J.T. Miller but included top-13 protection to give them some security if they missed the playoffs, which they ultimately did. Less than a day later, the Canucks traded that pick to the Penguins as part of a package for Marcus Petterson and Drew O'Connor, instantly giving the Rangers' pick to one of their Metropolitan Division rivals.

There's usually at least one team that faces this decision every year, but New York's is particularly difficult for a couple of reasons.

The 2026 draft is widely considered to be deeper and contain more high-end players than the 2025 draft, which would be a point in favor of sending this year's pick and keeping next year's. However, the Rangers seemingly expect to bounce back and make the playoffs next season, thus believing that they won't be picking as high in 2026.

There's no guarantee that the Rangers will bounce back, though. They've already made a major change by trading away their longest-tenured player in Chris Kreider, and most of their other top forwards — including Miller, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck — are in their early 30s. Star defenseman Adam Fox and goaltender Igor Shesterkin are also coming off possibly their worst NHL seasons to date.

No matter what the Rangers decide on, though, they won't be able to tell if they made the right decision for years after the fact.