The New York Rangers will get clarity on an important aspect of their future on Tuesday when the NHL Draft Lottery is held. The live televised event is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET in Secaucus, N.J., at the NHL Network studios.
New York has the third-best lottery odds in the league: an 11.5 percent chance at the No. 1 pick and a guarantee to stay in the top five.
Once the draft order is set, team president Chris Drury can fully take stock of the prospects that could be available to him. Let’s go over what’s at stake.
Where will the Rangers pick?
After finishing with the worst record in the Eastern Conference and the third-worst overall record this season, New York knows it will be drafting in the top five on June 26. Despite having the third-best odds, the No. 3 pick is actually the one the Rangers have the lowest chance of getting: 7.8 percent. They are most likely to get the No. 4 pick (39.7 percent) or No. 5 (29.8 percent).
There’s an 11.5 percent chance they get the No. 1 pick and 11.2 percent at No. 2.
Who will be available?
The Rangers obviously want to pick No. 1 and have their choice of the lot. In its final draft ranking, NHL Central Scouting ranked winger Gavin McKenna (Penn State) as the top North American Skater and Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg (Frölunda) as the top international one. Colleague Corey Pronman, meanwhile, ranked defenseman Chase Reid (OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) as his top prospect with McKenna as the only other player in his top tier, which he described as “Bubble NHL Star and top of the lineup player.” All three of those players will be worth watching if available when the Rangers are on the clock.
Many of the top-ranked players in the draft are defensemen. Of the North American skaters, Nos. 2-5 in the Central Scouting rankings are defensemen: Reid, Carson Carels (WHL’s Prince George), Keaton Verhoeff (University of North Dakota) and Daxon Rudolfph (WHL’s Prince Albert). Latvian defenseman Alberts Šmits, who played in the 2026 Olympics, is No. 2 behind Stenberg in the international rankings.
The Rangers, of course, have a need up the middle in their prospect pool. Yet most of the top players in this draft are not centers. If New York has one of the top couple picks in the draft, it should take the best player available, regardless of position. But if the Rangers are at No. 4 or 5 — which they have nearly a 70 percent chance to be — then they could look at the center crop. Caleb Malhotra (OHL’s Brantford) is the top-ranked center in the North American rankings. He’s committed to Boston University next year, and his dad, Manny, was the No. 7 pick by the Rangers in 1998. Boston University’s Tynan Lawrence is Pronman’s top-ranked center.
Could the Rangers trade a first-round pick?
It’s hard to envision the Rangers trading their top pick, unless it’s just moving down a spot or two for additional picks. The franchise needs high-end skill, and the draft is the most sustainable way to obtain it. Drury presumably won’t pass up a chance at an elite talent.
New York also has a late first-round pick from Dallas, acquired in the K’Andre Miller trade. The team could perhaps explore moving that selection, or Drury could take another swing at a player with skill.
What’s the Rangers history with top-five picks?
The Rangers have only made three top-five picks since 1970.
•2020: Alexis Lafrenière, No. 1
•2019: Kaapo Kakko, No. 2
•1999: Pavel Brendl, No. 4
Brendl never appeared in a game for the Rangers. He was eventually traded in a package for Eric Lindros and finished with only 78 career NHL games played.
Kakko was a part of two teams that made the Eastern Conference final, and he had a 40-point season with the club in 2022-23. But he didn’t develop into the top-of-the-lineup player teams expect from a No. 2 pick. The Rangers traded him to Seattle in December 2024 for a Will Borgen-led package.
Lafrenière is still with the organization. He’s played a top-six role and had a pair of 57-point seasons. But he too has not become the player the Rangers envisioned with a top draft pick.