Why Rangers’ 2nd pick in 1st round of 2026 draft so crucial
New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury faces a crucial decision when his team is on the clock with the fifth overall selection in the 2026 NHL Draft next month. That choice, however, may not be as difficult than their second selection later in the first round.
The Rangers’ fall from third to fifth in the draft lottery last week was a bad break for a team that could really use a few good ones. Selecting fifth means that Drury probably finds himself addressing his defense corps, rather than being able to select a desperately-needed franchise forward – significantly increasing the pressure on him to unearth a hidden gem of sorts at the bottom of the round.
New York owns the Dallas Stars’ first-round pick as part of the K’Andre Miller trade with the Carolina Hurricanes last summer. Right now, that pick is anywhere between 23-27 overall, depending on results from the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The drop to five after the lottery makes it likely the top forward prospects in the draft – Gavin McKenna (probably going No. 1 overall to the Toronto Maple Leafs), Ivar Stenberg and Caleb Malhotra – will be gone by the time the Rangers pick rolls around. While it’s of course possible one of those players falls to them – different sport, but witness the New York Giants getting their hands on linebacker Arvell Reese with the fifth pick in this year’s NFL draft when he was widely expected to go as high as No. 2 – chances are that the Blueshirts will be shut out on the top three forwards by then.
The next tier of projected first-round forwards are generally seen as a reach to take at No. 5. That leaves an intriguing crop of highly-rated defensemen, and the Rangers certainly need help on the back end, too. Drury could get the chance to select from among a deep group consisting of Chase Reid, Carson Carels, Daxon Rudolph, Albert Smits, Keaton Verhoeff and Malte Gustafsson. There are left-handed and right-handed options, and skill, size, physicality or some combination of all three for the Blueshirts to go with in order to bolster a blue line that’s starved for of all of those qualities.
Yet Drury must be disappointed that the chance to grab an elite prospect to plug into his top-six forward group almost certainly vanished with the lottery fall. With a pair of aging top-two centers in Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller, and a dearth of high-end scoring options on the wing, the Rangers must unearth a difference-making forward later in the first round.
Rangers can look to Gabe Perreault as proof of late first-round talent in draft
One of the few skilled young forwards with a high ceiling the Rangers do have is Gabe Perreault, who turned in a very promising rookie season in 2025-26, especially after joining the top line with Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere. It’s Perreault’s presence on the roster that should give Drury hope that he can come away from this draft with a potential top-six mainstay after all.
After all, the Rangers nabbed Perreault with the No. 23 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. Perreault’s drop was considered to be due in large part to the deep talent pool of that draft, and his elite vision, hands and offensive abilities were there for the taking lower than expected in the first round.
Perreault finished with 12 goals and 15 assists in 49 games this season, and had nine goals and 10 assists in the final 23 contests – including his first career hat trick April 4. Finding chemistry with Zibanejad and Lafreniere, the just-turned 21-year-old flashed top-six skills and looks like a big part of the future.
Drury needs to pull off something similar if he’s indeed set on finding a top-six forward with the second pick in the first round this year. Zibanejad and Miller, the captain, are both 33. Lafreniere, the top overall pick in 2020, finished the season strong and totaled 24 goals and 33 assists in 82 games, but questions remain about whether he’ll ever become the franchise winger the Rangers thought they were getting six years ago.
Will Cuylle’s had consecutive 20-goal seasons; but on a real contender, isn’t he more a force on the third line, not in the top six?
History shows Rangers can find top forward low in first round
Doing so late in the first round probably won’t be as easy this time. As mentioned, the first round in 2023 was perceived to be stocked, giving Drury a shot at a player who might have been taken much higher in other years. This draft is also perceived to be a good one talent-wise for the top 10 spots, but not nearly as highly-rated throughout the first round as it was in Perreault’s year.
That said, the Rangers did hit on Perreault, and NHL Draft history suggests a star forward can be had at the bottom of the first round. Boston Bruins superstar David Pastrnak was selected 25th overall in 2014, and Los Angeles Kings star Adrian Kempe went four spots later. Philadelphia Flyers right wing Travis Konecny was the 24th selection in 2015, while the Vancouver Canucks took winger Brock Boeser one spot earlier. There’s also three-time 40-goal scorer Tage Thompson (St. Louis Blues, 26th in 2016).
More recently, the Stars took center Mavrik Bourque (20 goals and 21 assists this season) 30th overall in 2020. The Blues selected winger Jake Neighbours (64 goals over the past three seasons) four spots earlier that year, while rising wingers Jimmy Snuggerud (St. Louis) and Danila Yurov (Minnesota Wild) went 23rd and 24th, respectively, in 2022.
So what young forward might be a major find when the Rangers are on the clock for the second time in the first round this year? There are plenty of interesting candidates, such as big centers Ilia Morozov and Brooks Rogowski, speedy winger Adam Novotny or perhaps left wing Marcus Nordmark, a raw prospect who nonetheless possesses top-six abilities that can be honed with patience and a proper development path.
Whoever Drury and scouting director John Lilley zero in on should be someone the organization projects as a potential top-sixer. The Rangers are flush with young bottom-six options, and don’t need to add another using a first-round pick. Betting on high upside should be the play for Drury in the most important draft of his five-year tenure.
Only Lafreniere remains on the roster from a run of four consecutive top-10 picks from 2017-20 made by Drury’s predecessor, Jeff Gorton. That failure cost the organization dearly and probably shortened its championship contention window following the previous rebuild (“retool” this time) that began in 2018.
The current GM can’t afford to make that kind of mistake with another top-10 pick – but missing with their other selection, which appears likely to be a forward, would be a big blow as well. In fact, given the state of the Rangers’ talent pool up front, getting that pick right could end up being just as important as what the team does with the fifth overall choice.
