The New York Rangers had two big misses this season. The first was that they missed the playoffs completely after a disastrous season, which saw the team collapse before our eyes. The next came at the NHL Draft Lottery when they saw their rival, New York Islanders, win the first overall pick. It gets even worse because had the Islanders beaten the Rangers one time in the regular season, the teams would have swapped spots in the standings, and it would be the Rangers with the first overall pick in the draft this year.
Currently, they hold the 12th overall pick, and as of now, it remains uncertain whether the team will retain it this year. This is because when general manager Chris Drury acquired J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks, he traded them the 2025 first-round pick, which was top 13 protected. Vancouver quickly flipped that pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins, so now Drury has to decide if he wants to keep the pick this year and send the Penguins an unprotected 2026 first-round pick or give up the pick this year and keep next year’s pick for another move down the line. If he does keep the pick, the Rangers should focus on drafting a center because the center core on the current roster is aging fast, and they don’t have many prospects to look forward to that could come up in the near future.
Highest Paid Centers Are All 31 Years Old or Older
Most teams that end up winning a Stanley Cup have a very strong group of centers that can help lead the way. On paper, the Rangers have a very good-looking group of centers. It consists of Miller, Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck. If you were to match up these three players against any other team in the league, not many can say they have a better group than what the Rangers currently have. All three of these players have been very good throughout their careers, and they all seem set to be Rangers for the foreseeable future as they are all locked up for at least the next four seasons.
Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers celebrates after scoring a goal during the first period against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game One of the Second Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Photo by Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images)
The issue that will arise sooner rather than later is that all three of these players are 31 years old or older, with Miller and Zibanejad both being 32. This means that they will soon start to regress from what they were in their prime, and for Zibanejad, maybe that has already happened. His offensive production has dropped off significantly over the past two seasons. He went from 91 points during the 2022-23 season to just 72 the next season and 56 this season. This is a bad sign for a team that has him locked up for the next five seasons with a full no-move clause throughout the duration of the deal. If Miller and Trocheck both follow in those footsteps, the Rangers’ group of centers could look very lackluster in the next few seasons.
No Young Centers Coming Up Soon
This would not be a major issue if the Rangers had any young centers that could come up in the next two or three seasons and be impact players, but as of right now, they don’t have anyone who is projected to be an impact player. The youngest center they have that has played games for the team is Jusso Parssinen. He is 24 years old, and they got him from the Colorado Avalanche in the Ryan Lindgren trade. He only played in 11 games and had two goals and five points, but they did sign him to a two-year extension earlier this month. It seems he will have a shot to make this roster next season, but he isn’t a game-changer who could take over as a top-six center in a few seasons when these older players begin to decline. They did have a player with that potential in Flip Chytil, but his injury history became too big of a concern, and he was moved to Vancouver in the Miller trade.
Related: Revisiting Rangers’ 12th Overall Picks: Hugh Jessiman and Marc Staal
The three best center prospects the Rangers have in their system are Noah Laba, Bryce McConnell-Barker, and Dylan Roobroeck. These three players are 21 years old or younger and all finished the season playing for the Hartford Wolf Pack in the American Hockey League (AHL). Laba only played in nine games after coming over from Colorado College. He recorded 26 points in 29 games in his final college season, then scored two goals and three points for Hartford. McConnell-Barker had a disappointing season, with just seven goals and 15 points in 66 games played, so hopefully he can have a better season in 2025-26. Roobroeck had a great first season with the Wolf Pack, finishing with 20 goals and 33 points in 70 games. These three players have some decent upside, but none are projected to be top-six centers in the NHL, and that is an issue for the Rangers.
Who Could the Rangers Draft?
If the Rangers do decide to keep the pick this year, there are a few names that could be available when they are on the clock. One is Roger McQueen. He has spent the past four seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL) and has put up some great numbers. He put up 51 points in 53 games last season and finished this season with 10 goals and 20 points in 17 games after coming back from an injury. He’s a big kid at 6-foot-5, and he is known for being highly skilled and having great puck-moving ability, and is good positionally, so he won’t be a defensive liability. He is projected to be a top ten pick, but if he does fall, and the Rangers have their pick, he should be a no-brainer for them to draft.
Roger McQueen, Brandon Wheat Kings (Photo Credit: Brandon Wheat Kings)
Another player to keep an eye on is Brady Martin. He has played two seasons with the Soo Greyhounds in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and was a major offensive contributor in his second season. He saw a massive jump in production, with 10 goals and 28 points in 52 games his first season, to 33 goals and 72 points this season. He is known for the energy he brings to each game, and one of his best attributes is his shot, which has improved a lot over the past two seasons. While not the best skater, he brings it every shift and his hard work has paid off. He is a name to watch if he falls to the Rangers at pick 12.
The Rangers want to be back competing for a Stanley Cup next season, and while they will have the centers to do so, they still need to keep an eye out for the future. Right now, the future center core for this team is not looking very bright, so if Drury does decide to keep the pick in this year’s draft, he needs to draft a center because they will need one in the not-so-distant future.
