Why Rangers must take best center available if they keep No. 12 pick in 2025 NHL Draft
If the New York Rangers decide to keep the No. 12 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, they should seriously consider selecting the best center available. Though deep down the middle at the NHL level, the Rangers are thin in their pipeline at center, and they need to backfill at the position as their veterans get older.
It’s no secret that a strength of the Rangers right now is their experienced group of centers: J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck and Sam Carrick, along with Juuso Parssinen and Jonny Brodzinski on the NHL roster. Even if Zibanejad plays on the wing next season, that’s a solid group.
That said, they are all on the wrong side of their prime years. Each is over 30, except for Parssinen, who is 24 but projects doesn’t project higher than a third-liner.
As of January, The Athletic ranked the Rangers prospect pool 19th across the NHL, with forwards Gabe Perreault, Brennan Othmann and Brett Berard at the top of the list. There’s a fairly steep drop-off after those three. And, it should be noted, not one of them is a center, each plays on the wing.
Dylan Roobroeck did open eyes by scoring a team-high 20 goals as a rookie pro with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the American Hockey League this season. The 6-foot-7 center is a project after he was selected in the sixth round (No. 178 overall) of the 2023 draft. Likely, he’s a bottom-six forward if he makes the NHL, not dissimilar to Adam Edstrom and Matt Rempe, another pair of towering forwards, who can also play center.
Noah Laba is probably New York’s top center prospect. The 2022 fourth-round pick signed his entry-level contract with the Rangers this spring after three solid seasons at Colorado College. He led them with 20 goals and 37 points in 2023-24 and had a team-high 10 goals this season, when he was slowed by injury.
A solid two-way player and excellent penalty killer, Laba pegs to have a third-line center role someday in the NHL. The 21-year-old showed well during 11 games at Hartford on an ATO to close out this season, finishing with three goals and five points.
After Laba, there is a significant drop-off at the center position. There appear to be more depth options than impactful ones.
Related: Rangers prospect Noah Laba ‘exactly as advertised,’ scores goal in pro debut for AHL Hartford
Center options for the Rangers in the 2025 NHL Draft
If the Rangers keep the pick, which is a conditional one that could be sent to the Pittsburgh Penguins as the end result of two trades this season, there’s the chance that an impactful center could still be available at No. 12.
Centers are perhaps the most attractive position to draft for any organization. Lucky for the Rangers, there are quite a few solid options in this year’s draft class, even assuming that James Hagens of Boston College and Michael Misa of Saginaw will be long off the board by that No. 12 pick.
Intriguing options that might still be available are Jack Nesbitt (Windsor), who’s got size (6-foot-4, 185 pounds) and skill and plays a physical game; Brady Martin (Sault Ste. Marie), who had 72 points this season; and 6-foot-5 Roger McQueen (Brandon), who has plenty of skill, but played only 17 games this season because of a back injury.
This leaves the Rangers in a position of strength to fill the biggest need in their pipeline. That is, if the Rangers keep the pick. They have 48 hours prior to the June 27 draft to decide if they retain it, or send it to the Penguins, who acquired it from the Vancouver Canucks in the Marcus Pettersson trade after the Rangers originally sent it to the Canucks as part of the J.T. Miller trade on Jan. 31.
There’s also the potential of moving up the draft board by packaging the 12th overall pick with with a player — say Zac Jones or even a bigger name.
All depends on the team. Perhaps the 12th pick alone could start a package to acquire a young reliable center closer to making the jump or just getting started that can enter the Rangers lineup sooner rather than later.
No matter how the Rangers go about the draft, assuming they keep the No. 12 pick, the targeted position seems clear.
