Rangers Shouldn’t Rely on Winning Draft Lottery

So instead of Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg, the Rangers are likely looking at names like Caleb Malhotra, Carson Carels or maybe even Chase Reid. All of those prospects have the potential to turn into difference makers for a franchise – and it’ll be up to scouts to find the right and best player.

But at the same time, the Rangers need to be prepared for a player to slide, should they wind up picking in the 3-5 range. In recent years, we’ve seen talented players drop in the draft, including Matvei Michkov and James Hagens at seventh overall, and Ivan Demidov at fifth.

Perhaps during this year’s draft, Stenberg (the consensus second pick) will be the one to fall, giving the Rangers an opportunity to land someone special.

Needing to Cash in on More Assets

After a relatively quiet 2026 Trade Deadline, the front office is left with unfinished business. Most notably, Vincent Trocheck remains with the team.

Not that the Rangers absolutely urgently need to trade the centerman, because he remains under a cap-friendly $5.63 million average annual value over the next three years – but it would probably be in their best interest to do so. This would bring back assets, including draft picks and potentially young players and prospects.

Trocheck is the Rangers’ best trade piece, and they must get important assets back. But if a team isn’t willing to pay up, then again, perhaps president and general manager Chris Drury will decide to hold onto him again.

On the other hand, Braden Schneider is a player the organization should absolutely move. While he’s still only 24 years old, it’s hard to see where the 6-foot-4 defenseman fits on the roster and how the Rangers can improve without trading him.

When Adam Fox got hurt, and Schneider was given minutes to play with Vladislav Gavrikov, it turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. When on the ice together during 2025-26, the Schneider-Gavrikov pairing posted a 40.95 percent expected goals for (xGF share), according to Natural Stat Trick.

The difference was night and day when Gavrikov was paired with Fox, with the two combining for an xGF share of 58.49 percent. Sure, it helps playing with one of the best defensemen in the league – but only one is capable of playing a top pairing role, while the other isn’t.

Although Schneider definitely has top-four upside, he has likely hit his peak in New York as a third-pairing defenseman. It’s time for a change in scenery. Perhaps a team desperate for defensemen, like the San Jose Sharks, would pay a premium and even be willing to trade a first-round pick or a young promising player like Collin Graf to make a deal work.

The Rangers would be wise to leverage as much as they can, but regardless, Schneider should be moved, even if it’s only for a second-round pick and a prospect.

Additionally, the Rangers need to play offense in the trade market. As of now, they have two first-round picks, at least three third-round picks and one second-round pick in the upcoming draft. Certainly, the opportunity presents itself with Trocheck and Schneider to stockpile more assets.

This would give the Rangers more flexibility to acquire a big name. Right now, Jason Robertson comes to mind, who the Dallas Stars may not be able to squeeze under the salary cap for 2026-27 if he commands too much.

The Rangers, on the other hand, can make it work, as they are projected to have nearly $27 million in cap space this offseason, according to PuckPedia. Robertson, who is coming off a 96-point season, would provide a huge boost to the Rangers’ scoring woes.

Some St. Louis Blues players would make sense as well, including Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas.

Then you think of Brady Tkachuk, who has been long-rumored to the Rangers. But why would the Ottawa Senators want to trade the 2018 fourth overall pick, who is signed for another two seasons after this one, at around an $8.2 million AAV? And what’s Tkachuk’s incentive to come over the border to a team that hasn’t even qualified for the playoffs over the past two seasons? So this one is unlikely to happen.

While the Rangers will have a legit shot at winning the draft lottery, the front office shouldn’t get distracted by it. Either way, the organization will have a shot at drafting a game-changing talent and should plan on finding one in the 3-5 range.

The next important move is finding a star in the trade market (preferably someone under the age of 29) and accumulating enough assets to acquire who that may potentially be. A lot of work needs to be done still, and adding that player in the top five is only a piece of the solution, rather than the savior.